KSC Makes 18 Threes to Drill Panthers, Sets New Record Start at 9-0

KEENE, N.H. – Junior guard Mason Jean Baptiste shook out of a small recent three-point shooting funk by making six on the night, sophomore guard Spencer Aronson added four (on seven attempts), sophomore guard Octavio Brito tacked on three others – and that was only the tip of the iceberg – as the eighth-ranked Keene State College men's basketball team drilled Plymouth State University 95-65 in a Little East Conference game Wednesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium to set a new program-best mark by starting a season 9-0.

Records

• Keene State:  9-0, 2-0 LEC
• Plymouth State:  6-4, 0-2 LEC

How It Happened
A prolific three-point shooting team thus far on the season that had made double-digit threes five times including 15 on two occasions took another step further on this night, burying the Panthers underneath an avalanche of 18 treys that gave the Owls a commanding lead very quickly that was never remotely threatened.  KSC made 10-of-20 in the first 20 minutes and then started 3-of-5 after the break to, at one point, be shooting 13-for-25 (52 percent) from behind the arc.  The lead at that time early in the second half had risen to 35 points.  At halftime it was 54-26.  Plymouth never had a lead, and trailed 5-0 39 seconds into the game after Brito was off and running fast.  The Panthers answered with baskets on each of their next two possessions to get back within one, but 46 seconds later Jean Baptiste had buried his first two threes of the evening to make it 11-4 KSC, and that ultimately was just a sign of things to come, as the Owls took their first double-digit lead (19-8) on a layup from Jeff Hunter at the 12:33 mark.  Jean Baptiste made it 24-10 a little over four minutes later, and consecutive triples from he and Spencer Aronson helped give KSC a 32-12 edge with 6:16 remaining in the half.  They weren't close to finished yet, either, hitting three more treys in a lightning-quick 53 seconds that turned a 19-point lead into a 28-point first half rout with 4:03 on the clock.  In the opening 20 minutes, the lead grew as high as 29 (52-23) on two Jeric Cichon free throws in the final minute.

The Owls kept going out of the locker room, too.  Brito canned a three on KSC's first offensive possession of the second half to make it 57-26, and then dribbled in for a flush with authority at the 18:27 mark that had his team up 32.  Two more triples from Jean Baptiste sandwiched around a dunk by Hunter over the next two minutes had Keene State ahead by 35...and the Owl onslaught showed no signs of slowing down as KSC beat Plymouth by their biggest margin since an 88-52 victory at Spaulding Gymnasium 15 years ago.

Keene State's advantage grew to as high as 37, the first time coming on a jumper from Mike Carothers with 14:48 left that put his team up 71-34 and the second time when Sean Cullen connected from distance to make it 95-58 with 1:55 to go.  The Owls were able to get 15 players at least five minutes of playing time in the second half, and saw seven different people connect from distance, with Tyler Dill, Jake D'Auria, Cichon, and Ryan Donahue all getting in on the three-party.  It was the most threes KSC has made in a game since they had 19 (and shot 58 percent from deep) in a 107-80 Little East tournament semifinal victory over Western Connecticut State University in 2019.  The Owls led 52-25 at the break in that game.  Keene State would go on to win the Little East Conference tournament championship on their home court that year, a feat this year's team would certainly has aspirations of repeating.  At a program-best 9-0, they could be on track.  Tonight's win broke a tie with two other teams (2014-2015 and 2002-2003) that each started their seasons with eight wins.  This year, the Owls are outscoring opponents by 19.5 points per game on average and are shooting 49 percent from the floor and 39 percent from three-point range as a team.

KSC again finished with five players in double-figures, paced by 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from Jean Baptiste who was 6-for-10 from deep.  He also grabbed three rebounds.  Brito added 16 points (6-14 FG, 3-7 3-PT) and eight boards, Hunter 14 points (6-9 FG) and six rebounds, and Aronson 12 points (4-7 3-PT) and five rebounds.  Cichon rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points (2-3 FG, 1-1 3-PT, 5-6 FT), six rebounds, and two steals.

Plymouth State was led by 18 points and five rebounds from Giorgi Tsiklauri, who shot 7-of-14 and 2-of-5 from three-point land.  Elijah Swanson added 13 points (5-13 FG, 3-6 3-PT), six assists, and three rebounds.  The Panthers shot 9-of-20 from three-point range, including 6-of-11 after halftime, but it was not nearly enough to avoid their most lopsided loss since February 20, 2018.

Inside the Paint

• The Owls dominated most statistical categories, outrebounding Plymouth 52-31 while also outscoring them 33-12 from the bench, 17-8 on second chances, and 26-8 off turnovers.
• KSC finished with 21 assists (on 34 made field goals) and 13 turnovers in the game.  They had 11 helpers and just three miscues in the first half.
• The No. 8 national ranking Keene State received earlier this week in the d3hoops.com Top 25 poll is the highest in school history.
• The Owls have won 14 of the last 18 head-to-head meetings between the two teams and are 39-21 against PSU since 1997.

Up Next

• Keene State wraps up the fall semester portion of their schedule with a home matchup against Rhode Island College (4-6, 2-0 LEC) on Saturday, December 10 at 3:00 p.m.  The Anchormen downed the University of Southern Maine 78-67 at home tonight, pulling away with a 14-3 run to break a halftime tie and ultimately won by that margin.
• Plymouth, who suffered their first road loss of the season (4-1) will head down to Eastern Connecticut State University (2-7, 0-2 LEC) on the same day for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off.