KEENE, N.H. – Senior guard Nate Siow got the Owls started, and once they did, there was no slowing down.  The Lowell, Mass. native scored 15 first half points on 7-of-9 shooting and was one of three players with 20 points or more on the night for the No. 9 nationally-ranked Keene State College men's basketball team, who hammered the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth 104-76 to take a two-game lead for first place in the Little East Conference standings Wednesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Records

• No. 9 Keene State:  14-2, 8-0 LEC
• UMass-Dartmouth:  9-7, 6-2 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Hastings)
Sullivan Tire Player of the Game Interview (Nate Siow)

How It Happened
In a game that was for first place in the LEC standings through exactly half of the league slate, it was ultimately no contest, as KSC routinely carved up the Corsairs' defense and gashed them in the paint – shooting 19-for-26 (73 percent) inside the arc in the opening 20 minutes while building a 56-29 halftime lead that was never remotely threatened in the second half.  The beginning of the first half uprising after Keene State fell into a very early 9-2 deficit less than three minutes in can be credited to Siow, who had 10 of his season-high and career-high tying 22 points in the opening six minutes to help the Owls rip off 14 of the next 16 points for a 16-11 lead at the 14:07 mark.  UMass-Dartmouth called a timeout to try to stop the avalanche, but it did not make any difference, as KSC went up double-digits on Siow's triple with 10:46 on the clock.  Then others joined in on the fun – a lot of it.  A Hunter putback slam and then a transition flush off a pass from Siow came 19 seconds apart and put the Owls in front 35-15.  Keene State's lead was never less than 15 again and was never under 25 in the second half.  In fact, the home team reeled off a 33-6 burst in just 8:56 of game action to turn a seven-point deficit into a 20-point lead.  By the end of the half, KSC had outscored UMass-Dartmouth 54-20 over the final 17:03, capped by a jumper from Mason Jean Baptiste and a trey from Alonzo Linton in the final minute.  The Owls had 15 assists to just two turnovers in the first half while forcing UMD, a winner of eight of their last nine games entering the night, into nine miscues and just 36 percent shooting.  Hunter did not miss any of his six shot attempts from the field, and finished 10-for-11 with a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double with four assists in 25 minutes on the night.

Brito had just three points and took just three shots in the opening 20 minutes, but then was KSC's leading scorer with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting in the second half, decimating UMass-Dartmouth in the mid-range game including a jumper just 17 seconds into the half that made it 58-29.  KSC's lead hit 30 for the first time on a triple by the junior Owl star with 16:48 to go and grew as high as 36 in the half (102-66).  It is the fourth time Keene State has surpassed the century mark this season, and they are shooting nearly 49 percent as a team from the field on the season.

The final combined line for Siow, Brito, and Hunter?  62 points on 29-for-41 (71 percent) shooting, 26 rebounds, and 18 assists.  The three were a combined plus-78 on the night, paced by Hunter's plus-30.  Brito finished 9-for-16 from the field himself with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Siow added an eye-catching nine assists to no turnovers.  As a team, KSC finished with 31 assists to just eight miscues.

Linton and Wesley Odiase continued their key production off the bench, becoming the fourth and fifth double-figure scorers on the night as Linton had 15 points (6-12 FG, 3-6 3-PT) and Odiase 11 (3-5 FG, 5-5 FT).

Josh Lopes scored 24 points to lead UMass-Dartmouth, though that total came on 23 shot attempts from the field (11-23).  He added eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.  Cam Dunbury poured in 21 points (10-16 FG) and grabbed seven boards, but it was not nearly enough as the Corsairs allowed a season-high 104 points – 16 more than the next most they had allowed.

Inside the Paint

• KSC shot 50 percent or better from the field for the ninth time in 16 games this season.
• The Owls have won four straight against the Corsairs overall and 22 of 31 against them at Spaulding Gymnasium since 1997.  The last three victories in the series have been by a combined 73 points.
• Siow is shooting 58 percent from the floor this season, including many acrobatic finishes around the basket.  His other career 22-point effort came on December 4, 2021 when he made 9-of-12 from the floor in a KSC 101-53 win over the University of Southern Maine.
• There was a moment of silence before the game for two recent tragic passings – UMass-Dartmouth track and field athlete Flordan Bazile and former Keene State head coach Rob Colbert, the winningest coach in program history.  On an emotional night, the Owls put together a win in which he would have thoroughly enjoyed – playing with a fast tempo and consistent pressure (outscoring UMD 30-14 on fastbreaks), controlling the glass (45-35), and sharing the ball (five double-digit scorers, setting a new season-high in assists).

Up Next

• Keene State begins their second trip around the league with a visit to the University of Southern Maine (9-7, 5-3 LEC) on Saturday, January 20.  Tip-off is at 3:00 p.m.
• UMass-Dartmouth travels to Connecticut College (12-4, 3-1 LEC) on the same day at 2:30 p.m. for just the third meeting ever between the two sides.