KSC Once Again Puts Five In Double Figures, Shoots 62 Percent in Second Half
KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College men's basketball team placed five players in double-digits for the seventh time in 15 games this season on Monday night while also extending their winning streak to seven as they picked apart Eastern Connecticut State University 89-74 in Little East Conference action at Spaulding Gymnasium.
Records
- Keene State: 13-2, 8-0 LEC
- Eastern Connecticut: 11-6, 6-3 LEC
How It Happened
The Owls surrendered the opening four points of the game while scoreless for a little over two minutes to start, but an Octavio Brito triple began an 11-0 sprint that took just 1:32 of game action and KSC never trailed again, keeping ECSU a safe distance away for the better part of the 36:09 they led for in the game. Nate Siow scored 14 of his team-leading 18 points after halftime, making five of his seven shots and all four free throws, as Keene State punched ECSU with an 8-1 run right out of the halftime locker room to turn a six-point game into a 45-32 gap. Mason Jean Baptiste and Jeff 
Hunter each had four points in that stretch, and also both finished in double-figures for the game. Hunter had 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 12 rebounds, three assists, and two steals for another double-double effort. Jean Baptiste ended a mini slump by scoring 16 points (6-10 FG) while connecting on 3-of-5 from distance. He also grabbed four rebounds and dished out four helpers. The Warriors briefly got within seven at the 16:59 mark , but the Owls answered by rattling off eight more points in a row to open up a game-high 17 point lead on a triple by Jean Baptiste and buckets by Brito and Hunter. It was a 63-46 game with 9:52 left when Eastern Connecticut made one final push, as Tyreice Woods chipped the deficit from 17 to 10 with his own personal run before two free throws from Quinton Lott made it 64-57 with 7:55 remaining. Siow knifed through the lane in transition, a category in which KSC decimated ECSU – particularly in the second half – to answer, but Jalen Williams hit back with a triple bring the Warriors as close as they had been since the opening seconds of the half (66-60). The Owls then committed one of their 11 second half turnovers, the only blemishes on what was otherwise an impressive and proficient display in the final 20 minutes, to give ECSU an opportunity to draw even closer, but Max Lee was forced into a rare miss and Rakesh Tibby fumbled the ball away after an offensive rebound. KSC then scored six straight through Jeric Cichon and Siow to pump the lead back up to 72-60 with 5:06 left. Two free throws by James Anozie followed by a big corner triple less than two minutes later made it a 15-point game (79-64) again, and the Warriors were just about out of time at that point. KSC did commit three miscues in 30 seconds in the final two and a half minutes to allow Eastern to chip their deficit back down to 81-74, but Siow cashed in two from the charity stripe on the next trip before stealing the ball from Williams and feeding Brito for a layup that made it 85-74 with 1:25 left. Keene State roasted the Warriors in transition, outscoring them 15-8 in that category alone in the second half and 23-10 overall. The Owls also dominated the paint 28-14 in the final 20 minutes, beating Eastern's defense routinely to the tune of an 18-for-29 (62 percent) shooting half. KSC settled on 53 percent (32-61) for the game, their eighth time shooting 50 percent or better on the season and also the second highest mark the Warriors have allowed.
The Owls' 52-point second half is just a continuation of what happened out of the locker room Saturday at the University of Southern Maine, when KSC put up 51 in a runaway win. In those two contests, when it became "winning time," the Owls have combined to shoot 33-for-57 (58 percent) from the floor and 13-for-27 (48 percent) from long range.
Anozie added 14 points (4-6 FG, 6-10 FT), six boards, and two steals as KSC improved to 6-0 at home.
Lee scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting (3-3 3-PT) and added eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals in an impressive performance for Eastern Connecticut. Woods added 15 points but needed 14 shots to reach that total, while Williams had 11 points and five rebounds but shot 4-for-13. Lott had 10 points (3-6 FG, 4-4 FT) and seven rebounds, but the Warriors fell to 2-5 on the road and two and half games out of first place in the Little East standings.
Inside the Paint
- Keene State has won seven of the past nine against Eastern at Spaulding Gymnasium and six of eight against them overall, with both losses coming in overtime.
- The Owls are 8-0 this season when shooting 50 percent from the floor or better. They are shooting 49.8 percent as a team currently, which is tops in the conference and would be within the top 15 nationally. Their 19.1 assists per game entering today was in the top 10 of the country's team assist marks.
- KSC's win opens a two and a half game lead for first place in the LEC standings, ahead of both the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and ECSU, though the Corsairs have played only five league games and the Warriors nine. Both KSC and UMD received votes in the most recent d3hoops.com Top 25 poll released Monday.
Up Next
- Keene State's homestand continues Wednesday (January 26) with a matchup against Plymouth State University (7-8, 2-4 LEC) at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers have lost four straight, including a 73-68 home loss to the University of Southern Maine tonight.
- Eastern Connecticut visits UMass-Dartmouth (12-2, 4-1 LEC) on the same night (7:30 p.m.). The Warriors gave the Corsairs their only league loss, 75-73, in Willimantic, Conn. on December 8.