KEENE, N.H.--The No. 3 seed Keene State College men's basketball team survived a wild comeback by No. 6 seed Plymouth State University to reach the semifinals of the Little East Conference men's basketball tournament on Tuesday night at Spaulding Gym.

Records

• Keene State: 16-10
• Plymouth State: 15-11 

Playoff Roundup

• Keene State will play Rhode Island College in the semfinals at Eastern Connecticut State University.  The Anchormen, seeded No. 7, upset No. 2 seed Southern Maine 64-63 on Tuesday night.  It was the first time in the history of the tournament that the No. 7 seed has won their opening game.
• The other semifinal will see top seed Eastern Connecticut play either UMass Dartmouth or Western Connecticut State.  That matchup was postponed this evening.  The Warriors moved on with a 93-65 win over UMass Boston. 
• The semifinals will be on Saturday, and the finals on Friday.

Tale of the Tape

• Nate Stitchell was one of five KSC players in double-figures, leading all scorers with 23 points.  Jaquel Edwards poured in 16 off the bench, while Matt Ozzella and Ty Nichols had 11 each and Tre' Tipton chipped in 10.
• Keene State 56% for the game, including a sizzling 68% in the second half.  The Owls made 28 of 50 shots from the floor and nine of 16 from long range.
• Jack Preston led PSU with 24 points.  Ernie Johnson and Curtis Arsenault added 16 apiece, and Brian Boulay had 14.
• PSU's Uche Nwokeji scored six points, reaching the 1,000 point mark for his career. 

First Half Highlights

• The two teams traded blows early on, as Johnson and Stitchell both made three pointers.
• Nathan Clarke canned a trifecta of his own to cut the KSC lead to 11-10, but Nichols hit one on the next KSC possession that started a 11-2 run.  
• Edwards made two threes of his own and Lucas Hammel hit another as KSC led 25-16 with 9:10 left.
• Tipton's three point play gave KSC a 32-21 lead, and the senior converted another one for a 39-28 lead at halftime.

Second Half Highlights

• The Panthers exploded out of the second half gates, opening on an 11-0 run.  Preston had a steal and breakaway dunk and put back his own miss as the Panthers tied the game at 39.
• Stitchell righted the ship on the next possession, canning a three that put KSC back in front for good.  The senior stretched the lead to 50-43 by making a 10 foot floater, and was fouled by PSU's Nick MacGregor and made the ensuing free throw.
• Stitchell continued to pour it on, scoring the next five points for KSC to lead 55-45, and when he made another three with 4:24 to play, the Owls led 76-62 and appeared to have the game in hand.
• PSU responded with hoops from Nwokeji and Preston to get back within 10, and Boulay made two deep threes that cut the lead to 79-72 with 1:41 left.
• Another layup from Boulay and a three in the corner from Johnson had the lead down to 79-77.  Ozzella made two free throws to restore the lead to four, and Arsenault and Preston missed threes on the next PSU possession.  Nichols and Ozzella then sealed the win from the free throw line.