Game #1          Keene State     75        SUNY-Cobleskill   73

KEENE, N.H. 11/20/09 - Freshman Geoffrey Woodbury (Hyde Park, Mass.) put the Owls ahead for good with conventional three-point play (72-70) with 53 seconds to play as the Keene State men's basketball team hung on for a gutsy 75-73 win over SUNY-Cobleskill in an opening round game of the 10th Annual Noyes Volkswagen tournament at Spaulding Gym on Friday night.

"It's a type of game that we have to learn how to win," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  "But I'm proud of our kids. They gutted out a win against a very athletic team."

            Keene State (2-0) moves on the championship game where they will play Thomas College on Saturday (7 p.m.).  SUNY-Cobleskill (0-3) will face Bates College in the consolation game at 5 p.m.  Keene State has won all nine previous Noyes Tournaments.

            KSC trailed 70-69 after a jumper by sophomore Andrei Lucas (Chula Vista, Ca.) with 1:45 to go. Freshman Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) fed Woodbury, who went up strong to hit the key basket and later connected from the line.

            "It's what we do in practice," said Woodbury.  "He drove, got me the ball and I was able to get up and put it in."  

            Following a missed shot by the Fighting Tigers, Woodbury hit one of two shots for the line to make it 73-70 with 17.8 seconds to play. 

            The Owls intentionally fouled sophomore Travis Linton (New York, N.Y.) who hit a free throw.  Sophomore Derek D'Amours was fouled in the rebound action and added another free throw to put KSC up 74-71 with 7.9 seconds to go.

            KSC intentionally fouled junior Damon Franklin (Flint, Mich.) Franklin hit his first shot from the line, but looking to miss the second shot, he accidentally put in the basket-making it 74-73 and giving the ball back to the Owls. D'Amours hit a free throw and KSC held on for the win.  

The Owls jumped out to a 15 point lead (27-12) midway in the first half on a three-pointer by Cameron Fisk (Keene, N.H.).

The Fighting Tigers outscored Keene State 8-1 over the final four minutes of the half to cut the Owls lead to 35-32 at the break.

   D'Amours had a game-high 28 points to lead the Owls.  Mariano was the only other Owl in double figures with 10 points.

Lucus scored 23 points and Franklin had 22 points to lead the Fighting Tigers.  Junior Carl Thomas (Pomona, N.Y.) and Lucas each had nine rebounds.

Keene State didn't help itself at the line, hitting just 18 of 33 shots (54%).

Game #2    Thomas College 98           Bates College  94   

Thomas College had five players score in double figures in its 98-94 victory over Bates College in the second game of the Noyes Volkswagen Tournament in Keene.

Junior Isaiah Brathwiate (Farmington, Maine) had 22 points and hit a couple of key free throws in the closing seconds of play to lead the Terriers (2-0).

Junior forward Nick Schmiemann (Weymouth, Mass.) finished with 22 points for Bates (0-1), which drops its season opener.

Thomas will face host Keene State in the championship game of the tournament on Saturday (7 p.m.). Bates takes on SUNY-Cobleskill in the consolation contest at 5 p.m.).

Bates led by as much as 13 points (41-28) on a three-pointer by sophomore Kyle Philbrook (Auburn, Maine) at the 4:36 mark of the first half.

Thomas cut into the Bobcats lead, getting it down to five points (46-41) on a jumper by junior Andrew Duncanson (Portland, Maine) with 1:52 to go in the half. 

O'Keefe, who had 11 first half points, hit a free throw to send Bates to the locker room with a 47-41 lead.   

Thomas went up by 10 points (67-57) on a conventional three-point play by Duncanson at the 11:50 mark of the second half.

Bates slowly whittled away at the Terriers' lead.  A lay-up by O'Keefe put the Bobcats back up 68-67 with nine minutes to play. 

Thomas spurted ahead again, taking a 81-70 lead on a free throw by freshman Jarrad DeVaughn (Brockton, Mass.) with 6:08 to go.

Duncanson had a lay-up to put Thomas up 90-83 with 1:38 to play. Sophomore Thomas Deegan (Weymouth, Mass.) and senior Marshall Hatch (Chicago, Ill.) connected on three-pointers to gives Bates a chance.  Hatches' three-pointer made it a two-point game (96-94) with 15 seconds to play.   Brathwiate hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to account for the final score.     

Duncanson finished with 19 points, DeVaughn added 17 points, and freshman Francisco Alicea had 12 points for Thomas.

Deegan scored 17 points, junior Brian Ellis (Braintree, Mass.) had 16 points and nine rebounds, and O'Keefe finished with 15 points for the Bobcats. Bates lost despite a 48-35 advantage on the boards.