NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA. 2/16/02 - The Keene State College men's basketball team lost its final regular-season game, 95-91, to UMA-Dartmouth, in a Little East Conference game played Saturday in North Dartmouth, MA.
It was the second loss in the last three games for KSC (21-3, 12-2 LEC), which came into the game already assured of the top seed in the upcoming LEC Tournament.
Ranked second in the Northeast region and 13th in the national (Div. III) coaches poll, the Owls will host the semifinals and championship rounds of the Tournament next Friday and Saturday at Spaulding Gym. KSC's semifinal game will begin at 8 p.m. against an unknown opponent.
UMA-Dartmouth, which goes to 17-7 (10-4 LEC) will be the third seed in the Tournament. The Corsairs lost a chance to move up to the second seed with Western CT's 95-73 win at UMA-Boston.
The Owls played catch up all day long at the Tripp Center. Trailing 48-36 at the half, Keene State found themselves facing a 22 point deficit (60-38) with just over 15 minutes to play. Sparked by the play of Chris Urquhart (Salem, N.H.) and Alphonse Michalski (Northampton, MA.), and using full-court pressure, KSC battled its way back into the game.
Matt Wheeler had a chance to tie the game with 1:44 to play, but he missed the first of two free throws, as UMD held on to a 92-91 lead. Brian Cagle hit one free throw to make it 93-91 with 37 seconds to go. In the following possession, KSC turned the ball over on an errant pass. Harley Davis then fouled Tim Gaspar, who hit a pair of free throws to put UMD up for good at 95-91 with 11 seconds to play.
David Stantial (Beverly, MA.) had 23 points, including five three-points, and nine rebounds to lead the Owls. Urquhart came off the bench to score 13 points, hitting all four of his three-point shots. Cagle topped UMD with 23 points and nine rebounds.
"I was very encouraged the way we fought back. We had no sense of urgency in the first half," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert. "We had them rattled in the second half, but you can't expect to get yourself into a 22 point trench and dig yourself out."
Both teams had tough days at the line. KSC connected on just 25 of 39 shots while UMD hit on 21 of 34 attempts.
Keene State receiving votes in most recent d3hoops.com Top 25 poll (Feb. 10).
Keene State ranked No. 13 in most recent NABC Top 25 poll.
