Owls to Host Eastern University Saturday Night With Trip to Sweet 16 on the Line

Box Score

KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College men's basketball team's All-American duo Jeff Hunter and Octavio Brito combined for 44 points, 24 rebounds, eight assists, and six steals while Spencer Aronson poured in five key threes as the No. 5 nationally-ranked Owls began their 2024 NCAA tournament run with an 82-76 win over Marymount University (Va.) at Spaulding Gymnasium on Friday night.  KSC will take on Eastern University, who downed The College of New Jersey 80-79 in the day's first game, on Saturday night at 6:15 with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.

Records

• No. 5 Keene State:  25-3
• Marymount:  19-9

Postgame Press Conference (Keene State)...coming soon
Postgame Press Conference (Marymount)...coming soon

How It Happened
KSC trailed only once in the game (2-0) and expended a seven-point halftime lead to 15 in the opening two minutes of the second half, but had to hold off a scrappy Saints squad that kept pushing to earn their 13th NCAA tournament win in program history in now their ninth appearance.  To no surprise, Brito and Hunter were the catalysts and the rest of the Owls were effectively contributing, with Aronson making 3-of-5 from deep in the opening half for nine of his 15 points before Nate Siow tallied 12 of his 14 points in the second on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.

Keene State, despite shooting only 42 percent from the floor and actually being outshot by the Saints, got baskets at key times late to ensure a win.  After trailing 50-35 with 18 minutes to go, Marymount embarked on a 16-3 burst over the next 5:21 to quickly trim their deficit to two, but Siow scored at the 12:11 mark and Brito drained a triple a minute later to give the Owls a 58-51 lead.  Jack Bifano's basket with 10:15 left again had his team within one possession down three, but Brito and Hunter answered with baskets to push the lead back to seven (62-55).  Brito made a key triple with 7:56 to go to make it 67-58 and Marymount was never within one possession again, as KSC got a triple from Mason Jean Baptiste with 5:25 left for a 72-63 edge and Siow floated home a bucket at the 3:53 mark to make it 74-65.  After a Hunter layup a little over a minute later seemed like it might seal the deal at 78-69, the Saints made one more push, getting a long range make from Marcus Beckett and a layup from Marcus Stubbs to draw within four (78-74) with a minute left.  However, the Owls turned to Hunter when they needed a bucket and he came through with 42 seconds left to make it a six-point game.  After Montell Cooper made it 80-76 by going to the basket quickly (in five seconds), Siow made a pair from the line and then grabbed Stubbs' miss on the other end to more or less dash Marymount's hopes.  Five of KSC's 15 second half baskets were threes, and they hammered the Saints on the glass 25-16 in the final 20 minutes after being outrebounded in the first half.

Hunter finished with 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting and added 16 rebounds (seven offensive; Marymount as a team had nine offensive boards), three steals, and two assists.  Brito (7-18 FG, 5-7 FT) also had 22 to go along with eight boards, six assists, and three steals.  Aronson's five triples matched a season-high done three other times, and he now has 29 points on 8-of-17 shooting from deep in the last two contests – the LEC championship and now tonight.  He came up big in the first half after the Owls fell behind 24-22 after allowing nine consecutive points, ending Marymount's run.  He hit another with 3:05 to go until the break that put KSC up 34-30, and the Owls wound up taking a 40-33 edge to the locker room after closing on an 11-3 push in the final 3:44.  Aronson got KSC off and flying by drilling a triple 24 seconds after the break four a double-digit lead, and the game-changing surge spanning halftime crested at 21-5 to flip a one-point deficit into a 15-point lead.  Aronson had nine points in that stretch, and KSC made 8-of-13 shots overall and 3-of-4 from three while limiting Marymount to just 2-for-9.

A key piece of the Saints' team, Stubbs finished with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting including 3-of-8 from three-point range and 4-of-4 at the line.  He grabbed four rebounds.  Cooper had 10 points (5-14 FG), five rebounds, and two assists.  Marymount was making their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance under head coach Chris Rogers, as they fell at the State University of New York at Oswego 80-62 in the first round a year ago.

Meanwhile, for KSC, they will aim for their sixth Sweet 16 appearance and second straight in front of their home crowd tomorrow night.  The Owls downed Baruch College 89-78 and Tufts University 77-72 in the opening weekend at home last year.

Inside the Paint

• Tonight was KSC's 21st NCAA tournament game in program history.  It was also the first ever meeting between the teams.  In fact, KSC had never played any of the three teams they welcomed to Spaulding Gymnasium this weekend.
• Aronson is shooting 38.7 (58-for-150) from three-point land this season (a percentage point higher than last year) and 37.2 percent in his Owl career.
• Hunter remains well out in front for a quest to be the national Division III double-double champion for the second straight year, as he entered the night four ahead of Eric Panning of Heidelberg University (whose season ended on February 22 in the conference tournament semifinals).

Up Next

• The Owls will tip off against the Eagles (21-7) tomorrow night at 6:15 p.m.  Eastern's win over TCNJ earlier Friday was their first-ever NCAA tournament win in program history in their second appearance (they lost to the University of Rochester 88-65 in the 2022 first round).
• Marymount concludes their season one win shy of matching their program record.  The Saints entered winners of six straight, but finish 6-6 on the road.