KEENE, N.H. – Sophomore guard and team co-captain Octavio Brito poured in a new career-high 32 points on only 14 shots from the floor – and in only 15 minutes – as the Keene State College men's basketball team torched the nets in their home opener, routing Rutgers University-Newark 102-66 Friday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  2-0
• Rutgers-Newark:  0-1

Postgame Interview (Coach Cain)
Postgame Interview (Octavio Brito)

How It Happened
The Owls led by double-figures to stay only 2:16 in before ballooning that gap to 18-2 less than two minutes later, and that more or less told the story of the evening – a KSC snowball that kept rolling down a hill – as they improved to 2-0 on the season, shooting 49.7 percent overall from the field and 41 percent from three in the pair of victories.  Keene State made their initial eight shots from the field, including an electric sequence from Brito, who scored on three consecutive possessions, including a three-pointer and transition dunk within 19 seconds of each other that put his team in front 10-2.  The Lincoln, R.I. product never slowed down after that, making 12-of-14 overall and 6-of-7 from three on the evening while tossing in five rebounds, three steals, and two assists.  His teammates chipped in plenty, too, helping contribute to a sizzling 62 percent (23-for-37) shooting performance in the opening 20 minutes that included a 9-of-18 mark from deep as the Owls took a 58-32 lead into the locker room.  A second dunk of the evening by Brito had KSC in front 25-6 at the 13:55 mark, and a pair of triples from Spencer Aronson around a jumper from Mason Jean Baptiste, who finished with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, made it 35-10 less than three minutes later.  A third jam of the half by Brito at the 8:28 mark had the Owls up 30, and they pushed their lead to as many as 35 (49-14) in the opening half after Cichon's steal and bucket and a deep trey from Brito.  Rutgers-Newark, playing in their season opener, held opponents to only 38.8 percent shooting from the field in a 20-win campaign a year ago and saw their highest regulation total allowed not surpass 80.  KSC was nearly three quarters of the way there by halftime, the second consecutive game they piled up at least 55 points before the break, and wound up scoring the most points any opponent has against the Scarlet Raiders in regulation in 24 years.

Keene State was just as hot early in the second half, making nine consecutive shots after an opening miss to score 21 points in the opening 4:42 (while holding Rutgers-Newark to six), pushing their edge to 79-38.  Brito just kept being his efficient self, drilling a three off a pass back from Jeric Cichon on the Owls' second possession of the half before another steal and dunk 24 seconds later.  He tacked on a few more triples for good measure, making it a 75-36 game with 16:13 to go.  Brito's final act of the evening was a putback layup less than two minutes later that had KSC in front 81-38.  Keene State eighth year head coach Ryan Cain was able to get many young reserves action over the final 10 minutes, with LJ Hicks' trey helping the Owls reach the century mark at 100-60 for the fourth time in the last two years with a trey in the final two minutes.

Jeff Hunter barely missed a double-double for the second consecutive game, finishing with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting, nine rebounds, five blocks, and two steals.  Nate Siow added 15 points (7-9 FG, 1-2 3-PT), five assists, and two steals.  Eight different Owls connected from long range.

Levi Holton paced the Scarlet Raiders with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting.  Tyrone Bowens added 13 points and eight rebounds.  Rutgers-Newark turned the ball over only 14 times, but was quickly overwhelmed by the Owls' offensive avalanche.

Inside the Paint

• It was the first ever meeting between the two teams.  KSC's first four opponents are all first-time matchups.
• The Owls are 11-1 in the 12 games in which Brito has scored 15 or more points in his career.
• Cain emphasized taking care of the ball in an Owls Media Network postgame interview; his team finished with a 21-to-10 assist-to-turnover ratio tonight, including only four turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
• KSC honored the 2015-2016 Sweet 16 and 2016-2017 Elite Eight teams with a ceremony before the game.  The Owls are coming off an NCAA tournament second round appearance last season.

Up Next

• Keene State is off until next Friday (November 18) when they travel to Crawfordsville, Indiana for the Great Lakes Invitational.  They will take on Maryville College (Tenn.) (2-0) in their first matchup that night at 5:30 p.m.
• Rutgers-Newark is right back at it against eighth-ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1-0) tomorrow (Saturday, November 12) at 2:00 p.m.