10th ANNUAL NOYES VOLKSWAGEN
KSC MEN'S BASKETBALL TIP-OFF TOURNAMENT

Championship:          Thomas College  103             Keene State  93  

            KEENE, N.H. 11/21/09 - After winning nine of the previous titles, the Keene State College men's basketball team relinquished the crown 103-93 to Thomas (Me.) College  in the championship game of the 10th Annual Noyes Volkswagen Tip-Off Tournament at Spaulding Gym on Saturday night. 

            Keene State (2-1) drops its first game of the season while Thomas College improves to 3-0.

            Junior guard Andrew Duncanson (Portland, Maine), named the tournament's most valuable player, had a game high 33 points to lead the Terriers.  Junior Isaiah Brathwiate (Farmington, Maine), named to the All-Tournament team, added 24 points. Duncanson and Brathwiate each pulled down eight rebounds.

            Sophomore Cody Snow (Leyden, Mass.) led the Owls with 25 points and 11 rebounds.  Sophomore Derek D'Amours chipped in with 22 points for KSC.

            "We couldn't contain them going up and down the court.  They broke our pressure to score numerous times," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  "Duncanson is a special player, he deserves the MVP award. He made some really big plays. Every time we got it close or felt like we were going to be able to catch them, he'd make a tough play.  It was a tough match-up for us."

             "But I'm proud of our kids' effort. I thought we battled and came back at them a little bit and stayed in there the best that we could." 

Thomas College used its speed and athleticism to beat the Owls down the court and build up a 44-33 halftime lead.  

            After a couple of free throws by sophomore guard Steve Boudreau (North Andover, Mass.) got the Owls within a point (29-28) at the 5:51 mark, the Terriers reeled off eight straight points to go up 37-28 on a breakaway lay-up by  Brathwiate.  Andrew Duncanson, who hit eight of his 14 shots form the field, had 16 first half points while Brathwiate added 15 points.

            The second half was a track meet with both teams racing up and down the Spaulding Gym court.

            A three-pointer of a break by freshman Alex Kee (Bath, Me.) put Thomas ups72-58 with 9:39 to play. 

            KSC used a 14-5 swing that included a pair of technical foul free throws by junior Seth Stantial (Beverly, Mass.) and a inside hoop by Snow to get the lead down to four points (80-76) with 5:58 to go.  

            Thomas continued to break the Owls press to get lay-ups at the other end of the floor.  Duncanson hit a floater in the lane to make it 93-84 with 1:25 to play.  Thomas made their foul shots the rest of the way to hand the Owls their first loss.

Consolation Game:         Bates College 65  SUNY-Cobleskill 64   

Bates College overcame a 43-25 halftime deficit to post a thrilling 65-64 come-from-behind win over SUNY-Cobleskill in the consolation game of the 14th Annual Noyes Volkswagen men's basketball tournament at Keene State's Spaulding Gym on Saturday.

Junior Damon Franklin (Flint, Mich.) had 15 points and sophomore Andrei Lucas (Chula Vista, Ca.) added 11 points to fuel Cobleskill's first half lead.  

Coming out of the locker room, the Bobcats gradually cut into the Fighting Tigers lead.  Behind 49-30, Bates used an 18-4 run to get the lead won to four points (53-50) on a lay-up by junior Brian Ellis (Braintree, Mass.) with six minutes to play.

The Bobcats took their first lead of the game on a basket by junior forward Nick Schmiemann (Weymouth, Mass.) with 2:10 to go.

Ellis had a conventional three-point play, a lay-up and a free throw to put the Bobcats up 64-60 with 29 seconds on the clock.  The two teams traded free throws.  Junior Craig Orner (Glenmont, N.Y.) hit one for Cobleskill and senior Chris Wilson (Brewer, Maine) connected for Bates to make it 65-61 with 15 seconds to go.

Lucas hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final score.

Ellis, who was named to the All-Tournament team, finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.   Wilson added 16 points for Bates (1-1), which notches its first win of the season.

Lucas had 22 points, Franklin, an All-Tournament team selection, had 19 points and Orner chipped in with 13 points for the Fighting Tigers (0-4).

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

MVP:  Andrew Duncanson    Thomas

    Isaiah Brathwiate        Thomas

            Cody Snow                Keene State

            Derek D'Amours       Keene State

            Damon Franklin          SUNY-Cobleskill

            Brian Ellis                   Bates