CASTLETON, Vt. – Senior Octavio Brito became the third player in program history to eclipse the 2,000-career point mark late in the first half as the nationally No. 22 ranked Keene State College men's basketball team shook a strong challenge from Vermont State University Castleton, eventually posting a 92-75 Little East Conference victory at the Glenbrook Gymnasium Tuesday night.

The Owl star and two-time All-American bidding to become the first-ever three-time All-American in program history this year realized his milestone moment with 2:25 in the first half, rising for a one-handed floater in the middle of the paint over Justin Schwarzbeck.  He needed nine points on the night to achieve the mark – and that gave him 10 – vaulting him into company with just two others in program history.  Al Hicks scored 2,023 points from 1972 through 1976 and Ty Nichols became the program's new all-time leading scorer in 2019 when he put up 2,316 over his four years with KSC.  Brito entered his senior campaign with 1,567 career points, good for sixth on the program's all-time scoring list, and has leapfrogged Tyler Kathan, Jeff Hunter, and Chris Coates this campaign to move into third.  The Lincoln, R.I. native now needs just 10 points to move into second place on the Owls' scoring list alone, surpassing Hicks.  Brito continues to establish a remarkably efficient career, shooting 48 percent overall from the field including a career-best 51.5 percent mark this year.  He is one hundredth of a percentage point away from also being a 40 percent career three-point shooter.

At his current pace, with seven more games this year if two conference tournament games were hypothetically included (excluding any extra NCAA tournament games), he would finish with 2,170 career points.  Nichols finished with 2,316.

With the milestone out of the way, the Owls then had to work on a surprising challenge from a Castleton team they led 37-6 barely over 10 minutes in, by as many as 43 in the first half, and beat 101-55 in the first head-to-head meeting of the season at Spaulding Gymnasium on January 8.  This time, they did not have any lead until a three-point play by Wesley Odiase nearly 10 minutes in made it 20-17.  Even then, the Spartans responded with 12 consecutive points to surge in front by nine and led by as many as 10 in both halves.

After carrying a 44-39 lead into the break thanks to a combined 4-for-6 performance from three for Schwarzbeck and Ben Seiler and 7-for-16 overall, the Spartans warded off an initial KSC push in the second half, turning a what was a 46-45 edge with 18:35 left into a 59-49 lead with 14:55 to go following a jumper from Tray Blount and three from Crisrael Lithgow.  With a major upset becoming more likely as time went on, the Owls erased their second 10-point deficit a span of 2:45, tying the game partly courtesy of two Brito dunks and a three by Mitch Shettles.  The run widened to 15-0 as Ryan Blakey gave KSC a 62-59 lead with 11:24 left and Leo Chaikin followed with a third-chance layup on the ensuing possession.  The Owls never trailed again, pulling away down the stretch.  Ahead by four with a little over seven minutes to go, Joshua Williams canned a big three and Nate Siow made it 78-68 with an old-fashioned three-point play with 5:45 left.  KSC led by as many as 17 down the stretch, going up 89-72 on a triple from Mason Jean Baptiste with a little more than two minutes to go.  After getting within 72-68 on Troy Butler's jumper with 7:15 left, Castleton was limited to just seven points from there and was outscored 20-7 while falling to 0-16 all-time against Keene State including 0-12 since joining the LEC.  The Owls have won the last seven meetings by a combined 221 points.

Brito led the way for the Owls, scoring 23 points while going 13-for-13 from the foul line while adding eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals.  Blakey added 17 points (6-14 FG, 4-5 FT), three rebounds, three steals, and two assists while Mason Jean Baptiste joined the double-digit scorers with 11.  KSC finished 27-for-33 at the foul line as a team, weathering a 39 percent shooting performance from the floor overall and 7-for-28 from three.

"Tonight was a bit of an odd game," said Owls head coach Steve Enright.  "We didn't shoot it well and lost a couple key players to injury in the first half.  Credit to our players for battling back from the deficit in the second half.  We adjusted some of our coverages and I felt like that helped us generate some turnovers and earn some stops.  Octavio notching his 2,000th point was fun to celebrate in the locker room along with the win."

Castleton was paced by 15 points from Schwarzbeck (4-7 FG, 3-3 3-PT, 4-4 FT), who also grabbed six rebounds.  Seiler (5-9 FG, 2-4 3-PT) and Lithgow (4-14 FG, 3-10 3-PT) added 12 points apiece.  The Spartans were held to 32 percent shooting from the floor and fell into last place, one game behind Plymouth State University (3-8 LEC).

Meanwhile, the Owls maintain a firm grip on the top spot in the league, leading Rhode Island College and Western Connecticut State University by three games heading into Wednesday night's action when RIC hosts the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and WestConn entertains Eastern Connecticut State University.

KSC is back at it on Saturday when they host the University of Massachusetts-Boston (10-9, 5-6 LEC) on Senior Day at 3:00 p.m.  Castleton visits UMass-Dartmouth, who they beat 98-91 in the first meeting, on the same day.