KEENE, N.H. – Ryan Blakey tied a game-high with 18 points off the bench while Wesley Odiase added 17 points – 15 in the second half – as the nationally-No. 21 ranked Keene State College men's basketball team held on for a 70-68 win over Eastern Connecticut State University in Little East Conference action Wednesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.
The Owls (19-3, 13-0 LEC), after beating the Warriors (13-9, 4-9 LEC) by 38 points on the road in early January, found themselves down four with 12:01 to go and could not shake the visitors all night – even when it looked like they finally might. An 8-0 burst flipped their 51-47 deficit into a 55-51 lead, capped off by an Octavio Brito steal that turned into an Odiase transition layup four minutes later, but ECSU answered with five in a row to take the lead back with 7:13 remaining. Odiase scored twice inside including a flush on the ensuing two possessions and Blakey picked the pocket of Esco Greene before converting a layup to give KSC a seven-point (63-56) lead with 3:38 left, but the game was still far from decided. Down 65-58 with a little under three minutes to go, Eastern chipped the deficit back down to one possession after Greene drilled a three to make it 67-65 with 1:06 to go. Blakey finished over Greene on the other side to make it a four-point game with 53 seconds to go, but the Warriors again answered a trey from Elijah Jean-Guillaume – his third on six attempts on the night – to make it a one-point game with 37.7 seconds to go. Eastern elected to play it out with the shot clock and game clock differential, and it paid off when Jean-Guillaume blocked a corner three by Mason Jean Baptiste with 13 seconds to go to give the Warriors a chance at a major upset. However, Green was met by Odiase beyond the three-point line and his shovel pass over to Julian Sanchez bounded out of bounds with a second on the clock. After an Owl timeout, Mitch Shettles inbounded to Brito, who made the first and intentionally missed the second with 0.6 seconds left to seal the win.
However tough the victory wound up being, KSC reduced their magic number to clinch the top seed for the upcoming conference tournament down to one – meaning one more win or one more loss by second-place Western Connecticut State University will ensure the Owls the regular season championship once again. They could have clinched it tonight had WCSU lost at home to Rhode Island College, but the Wolves dominated the second half 54-32 against the Ousmane Kourouma-less Anchormen to win 83-66. KSC's next contest happens to be on the road against the Wolves (15-8, 11-3 LEC) this coming Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Eastern, who lost for the eighth straight time in the series to the Owls, remains in seventh place, a game behind the final playoff spot currently occupied by the University of Southern Maine. The Huskies swept the Warriors in the season series, effectively holding a two-game lead over ECSU with three games to go.
KSC's previous seven wins in a row over the Warriors were all by double-digits. However, tonight, neither team ever led by more than seven points. In the first half, neither team ever led by more than four as the Owls carried a 34-33 lead to the locker room despite a 2-for-15 mark from three and no assists on 12 made field goals. Jean Baptiste's three-point play at the 15:47 mark gave KSC their initial lead at 5-4, but the Owls' offense was slow-going early, as they found themselves down 12-9 seven minutes in. It seemed they might have gained some footing as the half went on, with two Jean Baptiste free throws at the 5:36 mark making it 26-22 and a dunk by Brito while being fouled on the Owls' next possession pushing the edge to 28-24, but he missed the free throw. Dominick Dao and Javontae Jones then scored five points in 40 seconds to put the Warriors ahead by one with 3:30 left in the opening half. Three more of Blakey's 12 first half points restored a 33-29 KSC lead a minute later, but Greene leaked out in transition and scored just barely ahead of the buzzer to make it a one-point game.
Blakey's 18 points represented a season-high and came on a 6-of-10 shooting effort from the field including 2-of-4 from three and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Odiase's 17 point came on an 8-of-14 effort from the floor, while Brito added 16 points (7-14 FG), eight rebounds, four blocks, and three assists. Mitch Shettles (4-9 FG, 2-6 3-PT) was also in double-figures for the second consecutive start, finishing with 10 points. KSC was 16-for-31 after halftime from the floor, with those four players accounting for all 36 of their points.
Dao paced Eastern Connecticut with 18 points (6-11 FG, 1-4 3-PT, 5-6 FT) and six rebounds. Greene added 17 points (4-14 FG, 7-13 FT) and Sanchez (7-20 FG, 0-4 3-PT, 2-3 FT) had a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. The Warriors did not shoot 40 percent in either half, but outrebounded the Owls 17-10 after halftime and by 12 for the game.
Two of Keene State's final three games of the regular season are away from Spaulding Gymnasium, beginning with Saturday at WestConn. The Owls also travel to third-place RIC next Saturday, with a home game against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth sandwiched between next Wednesday (February 19). ECSU hosts last-place Vermont State University Castleton (3-18, 2-11 LEC) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.