Hunter Leads Five in Double-Figures as Owls Roll to 4-0, 3-0 at Home

KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College men's basketball team scored nine of the first 11 points and shortly thereafter rattled off 16 more in a row as they went on to rout Springfield College 93-57 in non-conference action at Spaulding Gymnasium Saturday night.

Records

• Keene State:  4-0
• Springfield:  0-4

How It Happened
The balanced Owls, who put five in double-figures for the second consecutive game, were paced by Jeff Hunter's 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting and eight rebounds.  Mason Jean Baptiste (6-10 FG, 3-5 3-PT) and Nate Siow (6-10 FG, 1-1 3-PT) each added 15, while Octavio Brito chipped in 12 points, making four of his six shots (three of four from three).  Jeric Cichon finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, four rebounds, and four steals.  He has scored 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting in the three home games and overall has 17 assists (5 TO) and nine steals on the season for KSC, who shot 61 percent as a team from the floor while building a 50-24 halftime lead, their largest since they led Western Connecticut State University 52-25 in the Little East Conference semifinals on February 22, 2019.  Springfield fell to 0-4 for the first time in their Division III era.  They had not been 0-3 in 11 years and, before tonight, had not lost by 30 points since February of 2010.

KSC asserted themselves quickly, stealing the ball on the Pride's first two offensive possessions while scoring the first four points in less than a minute.  Cichon's swipe and layup followed by a transition bucket from Siow at the 16:54 mark had the Owls in front 9-2, and KSC remained well in control despite a small hiccup where the home team did not score for 3:06 that allowed Springfield to briefly get within one.  Leading 9-8, the drought-breaking basket from Hunter with 13:48 left in the half began an avalanche of Owl scoring, as not even five minutes later they had a 25-8 edge and capped off a 16-0 surge with a layup from Cichon.  Brito drilled threes on consecutive possessions in that span to pushed the lead from seven to 13, and is mostly just kept growing for the rest of the night.  The Pride were never closer than 14 again, and even that was short-lived, as Keene State then rattled off another burst, this one 16-3 with 10 coming from Jean Baptiste – including two triples – for a 45-18 lead with 1:52 left in the first.

After closing the opening 20 minutes with a layup, Hunter scored again right out of the locker room to start the second half as Keene State continued the romp and put up the first five to raise the lead to 31, which eventually became 76-41 after a layup and triple on back-to-back possessions from Jean Baptiste with 12:21 to go.  It was the fourth consecutive double-digit scoring game for the ever-consistent sophomore, who is shooting 53 percent (27-for-51) from the floor this season and 48 percent (14-for-29) from deep.  The Owls led by as many as 41 on three different occasions, marking the second consecutive home game they have led by over 40 points.

Springfield got 13 points apiece from Zeke Blauner and Tre Hodge, but was outrebounded 44-27 including 15-4 on the offensive end.  KSC outscored the Pride 19-6 on second chances, 50-26 in the paint, and 29-15 off turnovers.

Inside the Paint

• The Owls shot 51 percent (38-for-74) from the floor in the game and held the Pride to a 36 percent (22-for-61) mark.  KSC is shooting 49 percent from the field this season.
• Keene State has won three of four over Springfield at Spaulding Gymnasium by 28, 23, and 36 points.
• Led by Cichon, KSC has had more assists than turnovers in all four games thus far and is overall +23 in assist-to-turnover ratio.  Eight different players have more helpers than miscues.

Up Next

• The Owls visit Albertus Magnus College (1-0) for a pre-Thanksgiving game on Tuesday, November 23 for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
• Springfield is off until next Wednesday, December 1, when they go to Trinity College (Conn.) (3-1) at 7:00 p.m.