'PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Keene State College rallied from a 17-point
second-half deficit Tuesday evening and pulled out a 58-57 victory
over Plymouth State University in Little East Conference men's
basketball action at Foley Gymnasium
The 23rd-ranked Owls maintained their spot atop the Little East
standings, improving to 15-2 overall and 7-1 in conference
play. PSU was handed its third straight defeat and fell to
8-11 overall and 1-7 in the LEC.
Sophomore Tyler Kathan (Ludlow, Vt.) and junior Nick Drouin
(Weare, N.H.) shared team-high scoring honors for KSC with 13
points apiece. Senior Devin Ruocco (Dover, N.H.) led PSU with
13 points, while junior Chris Wilkinson (Newmarket, N.H.) added 12
points and senior Mike Walcek (Dover, N.H.) chipped in with 11.
The opening 20 minutes was all Panthers, as the hosts led the
entire half. PSU scored the first nine points of the game,
and held the Owls without a field goal for the first eight
minutes. Plymouth State took its first double-digit advantage
(25-14) with eight minutes to play, and took a 12-point margin
(37-25) into the locker room. Ruocco and Walcek each had 10
points in the opening half for the home team.
PSU extended its lead to 17 points (43-26) with just over 17
minutes remaining, but the Owls would not give in. Keene
State, playing without head coach Rob Colbert, who was back in
Keene suffering from an illness, whittled away at the
deficit. The Owls outscored the Panthers 17-4 over the next
10 minutes to pull to within four points (47-43) with eight minutes
to play.
Plymouth State maintained a slight lead until the Owls tied it
at 53-all with 2:07 remaining. Keene State led by one (54-53)
with 1:45 to play when Ruocco nailed a three from the corner to
give PSU back the lead, only to see Kathan answer with a basket at
the other end to tie the game at 56-56 with a minute on the
clock. Wilkinson made one of two free throws to put the
Panthers ahead, but Kathan converted an offensive rebound into what
turned out to be the winning basket with 28 seconds remaining.
The Panthers had two attempts for a winning basket in the
closing seconds, but both shots hit the rim and fell out.
PSU is back in action Saturday with an LEC clash at Rhode Island
College (3:00 p.m.) Keene State plays a non-conference affair
Thursday at Mitchell College (7:00 p.m.) and a Little East game
Saturday at UMass Dartmouth (3:00 p.m.)
(Courtesy PSU Sports Information)
