DARTMOUTH, Mass.--The No. 13 Keene State College men's basketball team suffered their first loss of the season in an 83-71 setback to UMass Dartmouth in the Little East Conference opener for both teams, played at the Tripp Center on Saturday afternoon.

Records

• Keene State: 5-1, 0-1 LEC
• UMass Dartmouth: 4-2, 1-0 LEC

Tale of the Tape

• Ty Nichols led four Owls in double-figures, scoring 16 points and pulling down five rebounds, with five assists and two steals.  Matt Ozzella had a double-double, netting 13 points and pulling down 10 boards.  Dizel Wright had 12 points and Jaquel Edwards had 10.
• Jon Robinson led all players with 23 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field and making five of his seven three point attempts.  The Corsairs also got 13 points from Atakan Akcam, 12 from Mert Sert, and 11 each from Nick Portelance and Joshua Imadiyi.
• UMass Dartmouth became the first opponent to outrebound the Owls this year, holding a 57-46 edge on the boards, with a 26-18 edge on the offensive glass. Keene State also committed 25 turnovers and connected on just six of 27 three point attempts.
• The Corsairs got a measure of revenge, after Keene State took all three matchups last year, including the 2016 LEC Championship game.

First Half Highlights

• The Corsairs led for the entire first half, taking a 7-4 lead on Akcam's layup, and extending the advantage on Robinson's second three of the half that made it 15-8 with 13:36 on the clock.
• Keene State slowly chipped away, as Damonte Turner nailed a three pointer that made it 18-12, and Lucas Hammel sank one of his own with 6:04 left that cut the lead to 22-18.
• Wright's layup with 2:47 left trimmed the lead to 30-27, and Nichols got the Owls within one with another basket with 2:01 to go, but Sert putback a miss by Akcam, then rebounded his own miss twice on the next possession before scoring again for a 34-29 lead.
• Arinze Obiora's basket with five seconds left in the half gave the Corsairs a 36-31 lead at the break.

Second Half Highlights

• Keene State's halftime adjustments began to good effect, as the Owls opened the second half on a 11-3 run.  Ozzella drained a three on KSC's first possession, and Nichols' layup at the 18:30 mark gave the Owls their first lead of the game.  After Akcam gave UMD the lead back on a three pointer, a jumper by Edward's and Ozzella's putback gave Keene State a 42-39 lead with 17:22 left.
• Baskets from Sert and Chris Mendes put the Corsairs back in front 47-43, but Rodney Jean-Marie's stickback and a layup from Ozzella tied the score, and Ozzella went 1-for-2 from the line with 13:13 left for a 48-47 lead.
• The teams continued to trade scores, as Imdaiyi's layup gave UMD a 55-53 advantage, but Edwards sank two free throws at the other end to tie the score again.
• Portelance drained two free throws with 8:41 left in the game, starting a 15-2 run over the next five minutes that put the game out of reach.  Another three from Robinson made it 64-57, and Imadiyi fed Sert for a fast break layup with 3:19 left that made it 70-57.
• Threes from Nichols and Lucas Hammel got the Owls back within 10 (74-64) with 1:40 left, and Hammel's free throw cut the lead to 75-67 with 41 ticks on the clock, but the Corsairs sealed the win by going 6-for-8 from the line down the stretch.

Up Next

• Keene State is back in action on November 8, traveling to Lasell College on December 8 for a 7 p.m. start.
• The Corsairs will host Worcester State on December 6 at 7 p.m.