KEENE, N.H. 2/28/2004- The wait is finally over for the Keene State College men's basketball team. After being the tournament bridesmaid in 1998, 2001, and 2002, the Owls overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to claim their first-ever Little East Conference Tournament Championship with a stunning 79-67 victory over rival Plymouth State University at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.
"We've been through the losses before and to go out with this victory, you couldn't ask for anything else," said Alphonse Michalski (Northampton, Mass.), who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. "It's our senior year and to win it in front of our home crowd is great."
"We push through the barrier. This was the final frontier for this program," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert. "I'm just so proud of my kids. They wouldn't be denied today."
The victory earned Keene State (23-5) the conference's automatic bid and its first ever berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Owls will find out on Sunday evening who they will face, and where they will play in the first round. Plymouth State (23-5), which lost three out of four games to KSC this season, saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end. The Panthers, who set a program mark for wins this year, will await a possible berth to the ECAC Tournament.
Sean Sullivan (Athol, Mass.) led the Owls with 19 points and nine rebounds. Michalski scored 18 points, and Matt Wheeler (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Timson rounded out KSC's double-figure scorers with 16 points.
Despite scoring the first 11 points of the game, Keene State found itself down by nine points (24-15) following a 24-4 run by the Panthers that was capped off by a basket off an offensive rebound by Andreas Pope (Brooklyn, N.Y.) at the 8:26 mark. PSU, which led by as many as 11 points, settled for an eight-point (37-29) cushion at the break.
As they've done so many times this season, KSC was able to ignite its offense with strong defensive play. Finally catching the Panthers (42-all) on a three-pointer by Michalski, the Owls went ahead for good on a lay-up by Wheeler on their next possession.
"We're used to coming back from deficits," said Timson, one of five seniors on KSC's roster.
Nick Pelotte (Bingham, Me.) cut the lead to four points (57-53) with a pair of free throws, but the Owls responded with an 11-4 run to push their advantage back up to 11 points (68-57) on a couple of free throws by Wheeler. KSC, which hit 20-of-24 free throws in the second half, kept the Panthers at bay the rest of the game.
Pope finished with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds to lead PSU. Mike Loughlin (Goffstown, N.H.) and Pelotte added 14 points each, and Anthony Oglesby (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with 11 points.
After meeting three times in LEC semifinal games (1998, 2002, and 2003), KSC and PSU were meeting for the first time in a conference championship contest. Both teams were looking for their first championship.
"We've been trying to do this for four years," said Timson. "This is our last year and we knew there was no tomorrow. We're trying to keep our season alive as long as we can go."
