KEENE, N.H. 11/17/12 – Entering the season with high expectations, the Keene State College men's basketball team got a reality check  of what it takes to play at a high level, falling to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) 71-54  in its home-opener at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.

"I thought everything we did very well against Husson just escaped us tonight," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  "I was very disappointed in how we played.  We need to soak this one in.  We need to learn from this and figure out what we need to do.  It's a long season, but this wasn't the way we wanted to play tonight. That's for sure."

Senior Rashad Wright (Agawam, Mass.) had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Owls, who drop to 1-1 on the season.  Marco Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) was unstoppable for the Engineers (2-0).  The sophomore guard finished with a game-high 23 points, hitting 11 of his 15 shots from the field.

Things started well for the Owls.  Senior Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) began the game by knocking down a three-pointer from the left corner.  Minutes later, senior Ryan Martin (Wayne, Maine) drove the lane and flipped a behind- the-back pass to trailing Wright whose slam brought the near-capacity crowd to its feet.

Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there for the Owls.    After Martin hit a three-pointer off the break to get the Owls to within a point (19-18), the Engineers used their athleticism and quickness to put together a 12-5 culminated by consecutive lay-ups by Coppola, who had 18 first half point on 9-11 shooting. His last basket made it 31-23 with 5:26 to go in the half.

Usually automatic at the line, Martin missed three free throws in the closing minutes of the half.  While KSC struggled to find its offensive rhythm, sophomore Sam Longwell (Acton, Mass.) and freshman Aaron Davis (Marshfield, Mass.) hit baskets to give WPI a 42-29 halftime lead. The Engineers shot a scorching 61% from the field in the first half.  "I thought we could've competed at a higher level," said Colbert.  They're a very good defensive team. We couldn't free up players and our turnover ratio was incredibly high. I just thought we got rattled.  They're a physical, tough team. We need to get better."

Keene State attempted to get back in the game without much success.   The combination of turnovers and their inability to get defensive stops never let KSC get back in the game. The Engineers pulled away even further in the second half.  A steal and layup by Davis pushed WPI's lead up to 18 points (60-42) with 9:40 to go.

Senior Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) who  scored 14 points and Martin who had 10 points, also finished in double-figures for the Owls.

Junior Ryan Kolb (Southington, Conn.) and Longwell each finished with 16 points for the Engineers.  Davis chipped in with eight points and a team high six rebounds.

WPI shot 94% from the line (15-16) and took care of the ball only committing 11 turnovers.

Keene State won the battle of the boards (36-27), but committed 26 turnovers.

Keene State is at Elms College on Tuesday (7 p.m.)

WPI returns home to face Curry College on Tuesday (7 p.m.).