Keene State and Plymouth will be meeting for the fourth time this season.  The Owls won the first two games (86-70 and 83-61) and the Panthers prevailed 98-67 in Keene.   

Plymouth State Holds Off UMass-Dartmouth 78-70

KEENE, N.H. 2/27/2004 - Freshman forward Andreas Pope (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 21 points and 11 rebounds and coming back to the line-up after missing the last three games with a finger injury, junior guard Nick Pelotte (Bingham, Me.) scored 18 points, to lead second seed Plymouth State University to a 78-70 victory over sixth seed UMass-Dartmouth in a Little East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament semifinal game played Friday night in Keene, N.H.

Winners of nine straight, Plymouth State (23-4) set a program record for victories. The Panthers advance to the championship game where they will face the winner of the semifinal game between top seed Keene State and fourth seed Western Conn.

UMass-Dartmouth (13-14) had the Panthers on the run throughout the first half.  Joseph Britto (Fairhaven, Mass.) who had 12 first-half points, put down a slam off a steal and connected on a three-pointer to give the Corsairs a nine point lead.  Chris Laprriore (Grafton, Mass.) later added to give UMD its biggest lead 32-22 with 4:01 to go.

Plymouth State scored the next six points cutting the half-time deficit to four points (32-28) on a lay-up by Pope with 1:40 to play.  Pope topped PSU with 11 first half points.

After several lead changes, the Panthers finally pulled ahead with just over three minutes to play.  Pope's lay-up gave PSU the lead for good (66-65) at the 3:11 mark.  A basket and three free throws by Anthony Oglesby (Brooklyn, N.Y.) pushed the advantage up to six points (71-65) with 2:09 to play. 

Britto cut the lead to 71-67, but Pope pulled down a key offensive rebound following a shot by Oglesby as the Panthers used the clock to their advantage.  Britto hit an off-balance three to make it 73-70 with 24 seconds to play.  Pelotte then hit a pair from the line as PSC held on for the win.

"I thought we showed a lot of character and courage," said PSC Coach John Scheinman.  "I'm proud of my guys."

Oglesby, who also had 10 rebounds, scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half. 

Britto finished with 21 points and Lapriore added 20 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for the Corsairs.

PSU, which split its two regular-season games against WCSU, will make its second straight appearance in the LEC title game. They lost to Western Conn. 65-63 in last year's championship.