'KEENE, N.H. 2/13/07 - Keene State overcame a
poor-shooting first half to post an 88-73 Little East Conference
men's basketball victory over rival Plymouth State University at
Spaulding Gym on Tuesday night.
With the victory the Owls improve to 20-4 and 10-3 in LEC
play. It's the Owls seventh 20-win or better season in
Division III and fifth under Coach Rob Colbert.
"I thought we executed our offense and defense better in the
second half," said Colbert. "We wore them down a little bit
and got the ball inside and were more deliberate.
"I like the way we're playing right now," he added. We're
a different team than we were two weeks ago and I'm proud of that
development. We had a goal to get better as the year went
on."
Tyler Kathan (Ludlow, Vt.) led the way with a game high 23
points and 11 rebounds. Nate Anderson (Westminster, Mass.)
also had a strong game with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Owls were held scoreless for a stretch of seven minutes and
15 seconds as the Panthers took an early 17-10 lead. Kathan
ended the drought for the Owls with a conventional three-point
play.
Keene State, which held a slim 32-31 lead at the break, heated
up in the second half shooting 64% (16-25). The Owls opened
the half with a 9-3 run to take a 41-34 lead on a driving lay-up by
Kathan. Back-to-back three-pointers by Matt Hickey (Mahopac,
N.Y.) and Kathan put the Owls up 47-38 at the 15:34 mark. A spurt
that included four points by Anthony Licitra (Glastonbury, Conn.)
and free throws by Kevin Ritter (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) pushed
KSC lead to 17 points (60-43) with 11:42 to play.
An alley-oop basket by Licitra and a jumper by Anderson pushed
KSC's up to 20 points (72-52) with 5:04 to go.
Jason O'Keefe (Everett, Mass.) had 20 points and Mike Chergey
(Bow, N.H.) finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for Plymouth
State (10-14, 3-10 LEC).
KSC, which holds a 14-11 series lead over the Panthers in
LEC play, has won the last four meetings between the two teams.
Both teams complete their regular season LEC schedule on
Saturday. The Owls host Southern Maine and the Panthers
travel to Eastern Conn.
