Owls Win Eighth Straight, Sweep Plymouth State in Season Series With Ease

KEENE, N.H. – Senior guard Mason Jean Baptiste scored a game-high 19 points and moved within nine career points of becoming the third active member and 40th overall of the Keene State College men's basketball 1,000-point club as the Owls drubbed Plymouth State University 85-53 in Little East Conference action Wednesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Records

• No. 9 Keene State:  16-2, 10-0 LEC
• Plymouth State:  5-14, 1-9 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Hastings)
Postgame Interview (Mason Jean Baptiste)

How It Happened
The Owls placed four in double-figures and got a combined 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting, 16 rebounds, six assists, four blocks, and five steals from Octavio Brito and Jeff Hunter with neither playing 30 minutes as they rolled to their eighth consecutive win, never trailing and leading by as many as 36 points in the second half.  And it came without a shooting performance that people might have become accustomed to, as KSC shot just 11-of-37 (29 percent) from three-point range and 41 percent overall.  Even still, the Owls amassed 20 assists to just six turnovers and stuffed the Panthers' offense, holding the visitors to just 29 percent shooting including 9-for-33 from the field (27 percent) in the final 20 minutes.  PSU missed all seven of their three-point attempts and was 2-for-13 from distance overall, and wound up losing twice to KSC in the 2023-2024 regular season series by a combined 57 points.  The Panthers, after holding a halftime lead in the first game between the teams, were outscored 134-74 in the final three halves head-to-head.

Keene State was rarely threatened, as they opened an 8-2 advantage on a Hunter putback dunk a little over three minutes in and led 11-4 after Spencer Aronson's trey at the 15:12 mark.  Consecutive buckets from Alonzo Linton and Wesley Odiase a short time later kept the Owls in front by eight, and after a brief hiccup that saw Plymouth get within 17-15 with 8:15 to go in the half, KSC ran off 14 of the next 16 points to go up double-digits (29-17).  Hunter stepped outside and canned a triple with 4:30 left for a 32-20 KSC advantage, and one from Jean Baptiste followed by a jumper from Brito with a minute left on the clock helped provide the Owls a 40-24 halftime lead.  After the Panthers very briefly got back within two, they were outscored 23-9 over the next 15 as they made just 4-of-13 from the field.  KSC was 7-for-12 overall, 3-for-6 from three, and 6-for-6 from the free throw line in that same span to blow the game open.

Plymouth's offense, after being limited to a 31 percent shooting effort in the opening 20 minutes, was slowed even further out of the locker room as they turned the ball over nine times in addition to their 27 percent shooting performance.  Brito drained a three 40 seconds in to make it 43-24 KSC, and another by him with 16:51 left had the Owls in front 49-30.  Jean Baptiste went to work from there (scoring 14 of his points in the second half on 3-of-8 three-point shooting), connecting from distance twice in 35 seconds to make it a 22-point (55-33) game and later a layup to go up 61-37 with 12:08 to go.  His trey with 6:59 left pushed his team's lead to 69-41, and a little over two minutes later a jumper and a 1-of-2 showing at the line made it 78-45, concluding his night with 19 points, four assists, and two rebounds.  He is nine points away from joining Hunter and Brito as active 1,000-point scorers on the Owls, and would be the 40th overall member of the club in program history.  Brito reached the mark himself in this year's season-opening 105-69 win over Western New England University in early November.

Over the ensuing 26:10 of game action after the Panthers got as close as they ever got (two), they were held to a paltry 12-of-42 (28.5 percent) from the field and turned the ball over 11 times.  Keene State had eight steals in that span, and 11 for the game, the sixth time they have had double-digit swipes.

Hunter had a double-double consisting of 17 points (6-8 FG, 1-2 3-PT, 4-4 FT), 12 rebounds, three assists, and two steals.  Brito (6-14 FG, 2-8 3-PT) added 14 points, four boards, three assists, and three steals, while Odiase added 10 points (3-7 FG, 4-4 FT) and grabbed five rebounds.

Kyler Bosse paced Plymouth State with 17 points (7-17 FG, 0-3 3-PT, 3-4 FT) and four rebounds, but was the only Panther in double-figures.  Rylan Canabano had nine points and Christian Barr six points and eight rebounds.  Giorgi Tsiklauri was limited to 2-for-13 shooting from the floor as the Panthers fell to 2-14 since starting the season 3-0.

Inside the Paint

• KSC outrebounded PSU 41-38 after being beaten by 10 (45-35) on the glass in Plymouth.
• The Owls have won four straight in the series by a combined 104 points and are 42-21 against the Panthers since joining the LEC in 1997.
• Keene State's 41 percent shooting from the floor was – somewhat remarkably – their third lowest shooting effort this season.  Their 37 three-point attempts marked a new season-high.
• Brito and Aronson are a combined 80-for-211 (38 percent) from deep this season.
• The Owls maintain a two-game lead in the loss column over second place Western Connecticut State University for first place in the conference with six league games (seven total) left to go in the regular season.

Up Next

• Keene State has a conference bye this weekend and will travel to face Middlebury College (9-9, 3-2 NESCAC) on Monday, January 29 at 7:00 p.m.  Their last visit to Pepin Gymnasium on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 featured the 100th career coaching victory (86-77) of former head coach Ryan Cain and a 21-point performance from Jean Baptiste as KSC won while missing Hunter that night.
• Plymouth State, tied for last in the league standings with Eastern Connecticut State University, is in a dire situation related to conference tournament hopes and hosts the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (10-8, 7-2 LEC) on Saturday, January 27 with a 3:00 p.m. tip-off.