KSC Men's Tip Off Tournament - Second Day
Consolation
Salve Regina 85, Lesley 63
Championship
No. 22 Keene State 83, Lasell 73
KEENE, N.H. 11/17/07 - The No. 22 Owl men's basketball team overcame a nine point halftime deficit to post a come-from-behind victory 83-73 over Lasell College in the championship game of the eighth annual KSC Tip Off Tournament at Spaulding Gym on Saturday night.
It was the eighth straight time the Owls (2-0) have captured their own tournament that began in 1999. (the tournament wasn't held in 2000).
Turning on the defensive pressure the Owls went on a 20-4 run coming out of the locker room to go up 50-43 on a lay up by Brandon Robinson (Jericho, Vt.) at the 12:50 mark. The run featured a slam by senior forward Travon Little (Danbury, Conn.) and back-to-back three-pointers by Nick Drouin (Weare, N.H.), who finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds and was named to the All-Tournament team.
"We knew we were getting outplayed in the first half, we just had to play our game to get back in the second half and get the win," said Tournament MVP Anthony Licitra. The defense ignited the offense."
"I knew it was going to be a hard game," added KSC Coach Rob Colbert. "We made some adjustments at halftime, especially offensively, and the kids came out and did it."
The Lasers (1-1) came back to get within eight (66-58) on a pair of free throws by senior forward Jamie Crawford (Coral Springs, Fla.), but KSC went on a mini 8-2 run, taking a 72-60 lead on a drive by senior guard Kevin Ritter (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) with 3:49 to play.
Licitra (Glastonbury, Conn.) finished with 18 points. Junior forward Tyler Kathan (Ludlow, Vt.) and Little added 12 points each. Little also had 10 rebounds.
The Laser's Crawford and Jose Guitian (Miami, Fla) were named to the All-Tournament team. Crawford finished with a game-high 31 points Guitian 13 points and eight rebounds.
Crawford had 18 points, including four three-pointers to lead Lasell to a 39-30 halftime lead.
After Licita tied the game at 25-all with a driving basket, the Lasers finished the half with a 14-5 run.
Drouin had 12 points and six rebounds for KSC in the first half.
Junior guard Justin Woodworth (Ipswich, Mass.) had a game high 24 points and senior forward Steve Walsh (Manchester, N.H.) finished with 21 points to lead the Salve Regina University men's basketball team to an 85-63 victory over Lesley University in the consolation game of the tournament.
The Seahawks (1-1), who shot 65% from the floor in the first half, went up 45-35 at the break and sailed to their first win of the season.
Junior guard Joe DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) had 13 points and senior guard Chris Goodridge (Merrimack, N.H.) finished with 12 points and seven assists for Salve Regina.
Senior guard Joseph Chatman (Boston, Mass.), senior guard Mark Stevens (Las Vegas, Nev.), and freshman center Jesus Trejo (Methuen, Mass.) finished with 15 points each for Lesley (0-2). Trejo had a game high 13 rebounds.
KSC TIP OFF ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP Anthony Licitra, Keene State
Nick Drouin, Keene State
Jaime Crawford, Lasell
Jose Guitian, Lasell
Joseph Chapman, Lesley
Steve Walsh, Salve Regina
