Owls Outscored 8-0 in Final 1:34 of Battle Between No. 4 and No. 11 Ranked Teams, Lose 86-82

KEENE, N.H. – The No. 4 ranked Keene State College men's basketball team recovered from an 11-point first half deficit to lead by five with 10:21 to go and was still in front 82-78 with 1:55 left, but was then outscored 8-0 the rest of the way and wound up suffering an 86-82 loss to 11th-ranked Middlebury College in a Martin Luther King Monday night game at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Records

• No. 4 Keene State:  15-1
• No. 11 Middlebury:  14-2

Postgame Interview (Coach Cain)

Highlights

How It Happened
In their final non-conference game of the regular season – an important one – the Owls had very few answers defensively for Alex Sobel and the Panthers in the first half and were then burned by a minus-seven rebounding edge in the second half, none bigger than when David Brennan ran down a missed free throw from Sam Stevens with less than a minute left that helped lead to crucial three-pointer from Noah Osher with 40 seconds to go that put KSC in an 84-82 hole, their first deficit since it was 62-60 with 12:12 to go.  Much like they did late in the home game nine days ago against Western Connecticut State University, the Owls were going to need a clutch shot to tie or take the lead in the final minute, but this time it never came.  KSC coughed the ball up on their first offensive possession after falling behind by two, but hounding defense from Tahmeen Dupree helped tie up Middlebury's Jaden Bobbett and give the Owls another chance with the shot clock off to tie or win.  Nate Siow, who had a strong performance with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting including 10 points in the second half, went for the tie with nine seconds on the clock but saw his shot blocked out of bounds by Sobel.  The Owls then got the ball in to Mason Jean Baptiste, who passed off to Hunter with the clock ticking toward six seconds left.  The Owl big man was again matched up with Sobel, who again swallowed up a shot with a few extra hesitations making all the difference.  Evan Flaks rebounded the miss and made two free throws in the final seconds to dash Keene State's hopes in a game that saw them outscored 22-11 on second chances while being outrebounded 41-32.  The charity stripe also was a big difference-maker in the game, with the Panthers making 16-of-21 (76 percent) and the Owls just 7-of-13 (54 percent).  KSC's cold three-point shooting trend also continued, as they finished 5-for-17 (29 percent) and Middlebury 6-for-11 (55 percent), helping totally erase the slimmest of advantages in field goal percentage overall for the home team. 

It was a disappointing ending for the Owls, who were scoring with ease on Middlebury's defense for most of the rest of the second half.  KSC trailed 46-42 at the break before scoring 26 points over the opening 9:39 out of the locker room to turn what had been a four-point deficit and then a 59-53 deficit with 13:50 left into a 68-63 lead a little over three minutes later.  Consecutive putback buckets from Octavio Brito in that span helped push Keene State in front by four (66-62) with 10:52 remaining, but the Owls were once again playing with their leading scorer in foul trouble.  The KSC sophomore guard was one of three KSC players to score 10 points in the second half and finished overall with 25 points (11-21 FG, 3-6 3-PT), six rebounds, and three assists, but he fouled out with 3:23 left and his team ahead by four.  It is the second straight home game the Owls had to try to pull out without Brito, as he left the game against WestConn with over eight minutes left and his team clinging to a lead.  It worked out that time – despite a 10-point deficit with less than four minutes left – but not this time, and because of it KSC's program-best start to a season is no longer unblemished.

It was no surprise a game between two teams ranked in the top 11 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 poll released earlier Monday went down to the wire after seeing 13 ties and four lead changes.  However, despite that, the Owls had chances to expand on leads in the late stages.  Hunter's layup with 7:23 to go put his team back in front 70-68 and they forced a miss and then a turnover on the next Middlebury possession, but could not convert and then saw the Panthers tie the game on a Sam Stevens layup.  Buckets from Jean Baptiste and Hunter helped provide a 76-72 edge with 4:14 on the clock, but a key defensive stop did not come, as Sobel went right to the basket on the other side.  Hunter answered with one of his own for another four-point lead, only to see Brito foul out and then Stevens made two free throws to make it 78-76.  Keene State had two more four-point advantages thereafter.  Neither of those lasted long, either.  Siow was fouled while scoring with 1:55 to go and had a chance to make it a five-point lead, but missed the ensuing free throw, and Brennan dunked the ball 21 seconds later to keep Middlebury within two.  Spencer Aronson misfired on a three on the next possession, and then came the critical sequence where Stevens was fouled down two and made just one free throw, but an offensive rebound off the missed attempt wound up providing what would ultimately be the game-winning points.

A Middlebury team that came into the game shooting 42 percent overall on the season, 30 percent from three, and averaged 71 points per game was very comfortable early offensively, as they made four out of their first five shots to open a 12-6 lead just 3:22 into the game and expanded that hot stretch to 7-for-10 by the time Flaks made one of his four threes (on four attempts) that made it 20-10 at the 14:31 mark.  The Panthers were shooting 67 percent (12-for-18) and made both of their tries from long distance when their lead reached a game-high 11 (31-20) just 10 minutes into the game.  Sobel had 12 points by then, well on his way to finishing with a game-high 31 on 13-for-18 shooting.  He added 16 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks – including two to preserve his team's win.  The Owls were shooting 53 percent themselves in that time period of the opening ten minutes, but committed four turnovers and made just one of five free throw attempts.  KSC finally cooled off Middlebury to quickly get back into the game, tying it at 35 with a 15-4 burst that took just 4:19 as their offense found a rhythm.  The Owls made five of their six shots from the floor in that key stretch and all four free throws while forcing three Panther miscues.  Brito started the uprising with a three and Hunter capped it with a bucket inside at the 4:59 mark.  Neither team gained much separation over the final minutes of the first half, though Middlebury did take a four-point lead to the locker room on another three from Flaks with 1:29 left that answered one from Jean Baptiste.

In addition to Brito and Siow, Hunter finished with 18 points on 9-for-15 shooting, eight rebounds, five steals, four assists, and four blocks.  Jeric Cichon added 10 points (4-8 FG, 2-2 FT) and five rebounds.

Middlebury had five in double-figures.  Beyond Sobel, Flaks finished with 16 points (5-7 FG, 4-4 3-PT, 2-2 FT) and two assists off the bench.  Brennan finished with an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double that included eight offensive boards.  Stevens had 13 points, but was held to 4-of-12 from the floor.  The Panthers improved to 7-2 on the road, scoring their second most points in a game this season.  They were averaging only 64.3 points per game in true road games entering the night.

Inside the Paint

• After shooting 39.6 percent from three-point land in the season's first 10 games, which included seven efforts with double-digit threes, the Owls are a frigid 25.5 percent from deep in six games since December 30.
• The road team has won the last five meetings in the series.  Keene State has lost five consecutive games to the Panthers at Spaulding Gymnasium, allowing an average of 87.4 points per game.
• KSC fell three wins short of setting a new program record for longest winning streak.  Their current long of 17 consecutive victories in the 2001-2002 season remains in tact.
• Keene State finished with 12 steals to Middlebury's three.  Siow finished with six assists to just one turnover.  Overall, KSC committed five fewer miscues.

Up Next

• The Owls are home again for the second of three games at Spaulding Gymnasium this week on Wednesday (January 18) against Castleton University (3-11, 0-6 LEC) at 7:30 p.m.  The Spartans have lost nine straight, all by double-figures.
• Middlebury travels to 6th-ranked Williams College (15-1, 3-1 NESCAC) on Saturday, January 21 for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off.  The Ephs, who have not lost at home, snapped a three-game losing streak in the head-to-head series last year.