KSC Puts Up 59 Points in Second Half to Overwhelm PSU

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Mason Jean Baptiste poured in 24 points, 21 of which came after halftime, and Jeric Cichon narrowly missed a triple-double as the Keene State College men's basketball team used a sizzling 70-percent shooting performance in the final 20 minutes to pummel Plymouth State University 86-62 in Little East Conference action Wednesday night at Foley Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  7-2, 2-0 LEC
• Plymouth State:  6-4, 1-1 LEC

How It Happened
Keene State led for 31:18 of game time, but the Panthers overcame an early 11-4 deficit to jump in front 29-27 at halftime despite shooting just 30 percent and leading for only 3:07.  The home team made it a game-high four point edge on Dante Rivera's jumper within the first minute of the second half, but were then swiftly overmatched by an Owl avalanche the rest of the way, as KSC outscored them 59-31 over the final 19 minutes to post their sixth win by at least 18 points this season.  Their two losses are by a combined nine points.  The Owls missed their first field goal try of the second half, but remarkably finished the game by converting 21 of their final 29 shots (72 percent), including 6-of-9 from three-point range.  Jean Baptiste may have been the catalyst, as he scored 21 points while making 6-of-8 shots overall and 5-of-6 from three in the second half alone after a slow first half, but the Owls once again had five double-digit scorers, the fifth time they have accomplished that this season (all within their last seven games).  Cichon had an impressive 12-point (5-10 FG, 2-3 3-PT), 11-rebound, eight-assist, four-steal effort, while Jeff Hunter also checked in with a double-double of 13 points (6-11 FG), 12 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.  James Anozie made all five of his shots and scored 12 points, and Nate Siow had 11 points and dished out seven assists.  KSC had an impressive 22 assists on 32 field goals and finished at 53 percent shooting on the night, 10-of-23 from three-point range.  The Owls had 14 assists and only six turnovers in the second half whitewash.  Defensively, Keene State also limited the Panthers to a season-worst 31 percent shooting effort in their first home game in nearly a month and just their second overall.  Kyler Bosse came off the bench to lead PSU with 11 points (4-8 FG) and five rebounds.  Yansel Reyes scored 10 and had six boards, but it took him 12 shots to reach that total as Plymouth State suffered their largest loss of the season.  Their last two at New England College and Emerson College came by five points total.

It seemed as though KSC might have been moving toward a runaway in the first half, as after neither team scored for the first two and a half minutes, they moved out to a 6-0 lead by the 16:02 mark and were in front 11-4 five minutes later as Plymouth made just two baskets in the first nine minutes.  However, after Octavio Brito's layup halfway through the period that put the Owls up 13-7, the Panthers mounted a 10-2 push to go in front for the first time (17-15) on Dante Rivera's pair of free throws with 5:25 to go.  KSC went 2-for-10 from the floor and committed four turnovers in that span that allowed the Panthers to grab an advantage, and the teams mostly traded leads over the final five minutes.  Giorgi Tsiklauri's jumper with 55 seconds left until halftime gave his team a 29-27 edge heading into the locker room.

Following Rivera's bucket to open the second half, the Owls found their offense in a big way and hit the Panthers with an 11-0 punch, opening up a 38-31 lead in a brief 2:20 span.  Jean Baptiste began the surge with one of his five treys in the half, and KSC followed that by attacking the basket with Anozie, Hunter, and Cichon each scoring inside on successive possessions.  Plymouth called a badly needed timeout to stop the bleeding and got five in a row from Kevin Henry to do just that, making it a two-point game again, but Hunter's jumper and Siow's triple on back-to-back trips put a quick end to that.  KSC kept building from there, polishing off a 13-1 sprint that culminated with a three-point play from Siow and bucket from Anozie that made it 51-37 with 13:29 left.  The Panthers got within single-digits just once more two minutes later (54-45), and as soon as they did, they fell victim to Jean Baptiste's continuing onslaught as he scored five of KSC's nine points in a row that opened a 63-45 lead with 9:30 remaining.  Plymouth was never closer than 15 again, and the Owls led by as many as 24 in the closing minutes.  All 13 players for that saw action for Keene State in the second half finished with a positive plus-minus rating as the Owls had more assists than missed field goals in the final 20 minutes. 

Inside the Paint

• Keene State shot 51 percent or better for the fifth time in nine games this season.  They are at exactly 50 percent shooting as a team this season, which would be tied for 20th nationally prior to tonight's games.  They have also made 19 of their last 40 from three-point range.
• KSC has the highest scoring offense in the conference (89.7 PPG), the highest field goal percentage (50.0), and the second-highest number of assists per game (17.9).  They are within the top 40 nationally in each category, including 17th in scoring offense as of December 7.
• The Owls are 13-3 against the Panthers dating back to the 2014-2015 season.  Tonight's contest was remarkably similar to KSC's last visit to Foley Gymnasium in the regular reason where PSU led 40-36 at halftime before being crunched 53-30 in the second half of an 89-70 decision.

Up Next

• Keene State visits Rhode Island College (8-1, 2-0 LEC) for an important final league contest before the semester break on Saturday, December 11.  Tip-off is at 3:00 p.m.  The Owls have won 12 of 14 over the Anchormen.
• Plymouth State entertains a surging Eastern Connecticut State University (6-3, 2-0 LEC) team, winners of four straight, on the same day at 3:00 p.m.