Owls Jump Out to 11-0 Lead, Improve to 15-3 (9-0 LEC)
KEENE, N.H. – Fifth year senior guard Nate Siow became the 41st member of the 1,000-point club in the history of the Keene State College men's basketball program as the nationally No. 23-ranked Owls pummeled the University of Southern Maine 101-84 in a Little East Conference game at Spaulding Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
KSC (15-3, 9-0 LEC) sprinted out to an 11-0 lead less than three minutes in and was up 20-4 four and a half minutes in as they beat the Huskies (7-11, 3-6 LEC) for the eighth straight time. The Owls have scored 100 or more points in four of their last five games, and in the game before that stretch began put up 99 points in a road win over Eastern Connecticut State University.
With today's game mostly decided as the second half progressed thanks to a 27-5 burst that took 7:03 and expanded KSC's lead from eight to 30 (81-51), focus turned to whether or not Siow – who needed 20 points – would reach 1,000 points today at home. After a 12-point opening half on 4-of-6 shooting, the Lowell, Mass. native took 12 shots in the final 20 minutes and the milestone moment did come with 3:13 to go as he weaved past two USM defenders and rolled home a floater in the paint. His 20 points marked a season-high and were two shy of his career high established three previous times (December 4, 2021 vs. Southern Maine, January 17, 2024 vs. UMass-Dartmouth, February 24 vs. Western Connecticut in LEC Championship). Siow joins current teammates Octavio Brito and Mason Jean Baptiste in the 1,000-point club. Jeff Hunter '24 also reached the mark in 2022.
Keene State led 50-37 at halftime despite only a 6-for-21 mark from three, as they instead were 14-for-22 (64 percent) from inside the arc. Spencer Aronson got the Owls off to a roaring start, tallying 13 first half points on 5-of-7 shooting including 3-of-5 from three. His triple at the 13:16 mark had KSC up 25-6 already, and another one with 8:39 left until the break made it 32-14. Down 36-17, the Huskies – who lost 116-81 in the first meeting at home and were down by as many as 45 points – hung around, getting within nine on a three by Bryce Lausier with 4:17 until the break. However, Mitch Shettles answered with a three and Leo Chaikin a nifty finish down low on the next two possessions. Liam Johnston canned a buzzer-beating triple to send KSC into the locker room with momentum. The Owls limited Lausier, USM's leading scorer to a 3-for-11 mark from the field in the opening half and a miserable 3-for-18 number overall.
Southern Maine drew within eight in the initial 1:39 of the second half as they embarked on a 9-4 burst capped by a three from Diego Colon to get as close as they had been since the 18:15 mark of the first half. However, then came KSC's hammering run in the next 7:03 to go up 30. In that span, they shot 11-of-20 overall and made 4-of-8 from deep while limiting Southern Maine to just 2-of-13. The Huskies also had five turnovers. Keene State had six different people score in the burst, including eight points from Brito, six from Wesley Odiase, and six from Ryan Blakey. Blakey made two threes, including the first that came after he intercepted a USM outlet pass and pulled up several feet beyond the arc to make it 71-51 with 12:59 left. He fed Brito for a slam on the next possession, and Siow then found Brito on an alley-oop pass for a two-hand dunk with 8:38 left to put KSC up 85-61.
Keene State has won all nine of their league games by double-digits and continues to lead Rhode Island College by a game in the race for the top seed. The Anchormen, who KSC beat 101-87 last Saturday, downed visiting Vermont State University Castleton 98-87 today at The Murray Center. Southern Maine is currently fifth, intermixed in a log jam of six teams separated by two games of each other.
Siow added five rebounds, five assists, and two steals to supplement his team-leading 20 points. Brito added a 19-point, 17-rebound double-double on 9-of-18 shooting to go along with four assists and four blocks. Aronson (13 pts., 5-10 FG, 3-6 3-PT) and Odiase (12 pts., 6-9 FG) also reached double-digits for the Owls, who won their ninth straight. Johnston and Blakey combined to go 4-of-7 from deep off the bench.
Southern Maine placed six in double-figures, led by an efficient 19 points (7-9 FG, 3-4 3-PT, 2-2 FT) from Brady Saunders. Evan Willey added 17 points (6-10 FG, 3-4 3-PT, 2-2 FT) and Evans Sterling 12 (6-8 FG) off the bench. Colon was also 3-for-4 from three and scored 11 points. In addition to limiting Lausier's percentage from the field, KSC held Thomas Whelan to just a 5-for-17 effort. USM finished 11-for-19 (58 percent) from three as a team, but was outrebounded 54-38 including 16-5 on the offensive end. They also had 15 turnovers to KSC's seven.
The Owls are currently sixth in the country in Division III in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.65), sixth in scoring offense (91.5), and eighth in scoring margin (+16.1).
Today's game concluded a stretch where KSC played seven games in a two-week span. In total, they outscored their opponents 676-528. The Owls are back at it on Wednesday (January 29) when they visit Plymouth State University (9-8, 3-6 LEC) for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. The Panthers lost at Western Connecticut State University 89-65 today and 93-63 to KSC in the season's first meeting.