NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Keene State College men's basketball team turned a nine-point deficit into a game-high six point lead in less than four minutes early in the second half, but were then outscored by 15 over the next 11:28 and eventually lost 84-81 to Albertus Magnus College Tuesday night at "The Nest" inside Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.

Records

• Keene State:  4-1
• Albertus Magnus:  2-0

How It Happened
The Owls got a combined 52 points on 22-for-31 shooting from Jeff Hunter and Jeric Cichon, but could not overcome an extremely slow start that saw them fall behind 25-14 in the opening 12:20 or marks of 26 percent (7-for-27) from three and 47 percent (8-for-17) at the foul line.  Albertus, who had played just one game seven days ago – a two-point road win over a now 0-6 Rutgers University-Camden side – outscored KSC by eight at the foul line despite shooting just 67 percent from there themselves and had a 49-39 rebounding advantage, all of which came in the second half.  Tyreek Perkins had 23 points (8-19 FG, 3-7 3-PT, 4-5 FT) , five rebounds, and three assists in the game for the Falcons, while Justice Washington finished with 14 points (6-9 FG, 2-3 FT) and 10 rebounds.  Terry Dawkins chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds (five offensive), and three assists.  The Owls surrendered 19 offensive boards overall, 12 of which came in the second half where they were dominated 23-9 on the glass, which helped negate their 61 percent shooting in the period after a poor-shooting first 20 minutes (34 percent).  KSC had a 30-26 rebounding edge in the first half, which aided them in remaining within seven (39-32) despite a 34.2 FG/18.8 3-PT/33.3 FT percent shooting slashline.

Dawkins and Washington got to the basket on each of Albertus' two possessions to open the second half to push their lead to nine, but Cichon went supernova and scored 12 points in less than two minutes to help KSC lead for the first time since it was 5-2 less than four minutes into the first half.  He had five in a row to make it a four-point game before Hunter's three-point play made it 45-42.  Cichon then went on a 7-0 bust himself to put KSC up by four before Hunter made it 51-45 with 15:56 left, culminating a 17-2 burst that took less than four minutes.  However, the Owl momentum was fledgling, as immediately thereafter they came up empty on four consecutive possessions and the Falcons hit back with an 8-0 run that took 1:48 to jump right back out in front, a place KSC never ended up being again.  Two from the line for Hunter tied the game at 55 at the 12:44 mark, but the next eight minutes wound up belonging to Albertus Magnus, who slowly built their advantage to 68-62 on Kevin Crawford's layup with 6:33 left and later 72-64 on Washington's layup with 5:02 remaining.  Down nine again (76-67) – right about where they began the half – with four minutes left, the Owls ran off six in a row from Hunter and Octavio Brito to make it a one possession game (76-73) barely over a minute later, but that proved to be a hump they could not get over on several occasions.  After Brito swiped the ball from Washington and KSC called a timeout still down by the same score, they returned the favor and turned the ball over on an offensive foul.  Mason Jean Baptiste stole the ball from Rob Tindley in the final minute and scored to get his team within 81-78, and just seconds later Max Bonney-Liles forced a turnover by Perkins, but Jordan Santos missed a three that would have tied the game.  After AMC made one of two at the line, Bonney-Liles did can a triple with eight seconds left to chop the deficit to 82-81 and ensure the Owls would get another chance to tie even if the Falcons made both free throws after being fouled – which they did – but KSC could not get a clean look in the final seconds and were 0-for-3 in possessions in the final three minutes where they could have tied.  Beyond the rebounding advantage in the second half, Albertus Magnus also outscored the Owls by seven at the foul line, helping not only negate KSC's 20-of-33 shooting but also 15 of their own turnovers, four of which came in the final 3:43.

Hunter finished with 29 points (12-19 FG), 13 rebounds and seven blocks in an impressive effort, while Cichon had 23 point (10-12 FG), seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.  The duo kept KSC in the game in the first half, connecting on 9-of-16 from the floor when the rest of the team shot 18 percent (4-for-22).  Jean Baptiste made 3-of-7 threes and scored 11 for KSC, who was trying to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 2016-2017, a team that made the NCAA Elite Eight.  

Inside the Paint

• Albertus had a 23-8 edge in bench points, though the Falcon reserves shot just 33 percent from the floor.  KSC played just two (Bonney-Liles, Santos) substantial minutes off the bench.  Bonney-Liles' eight points were the first of his Owl career after he transferred from Suffolk University.
• After the Owls won the first two all-time meetings, they have now dropped the last two by five total points (83-81, 84-81).

Up Next

• Keene State has a quick turnaround after Thanksgiving, visiting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (4-2) on Saturday (November 27) at 1:00 p.m.  The Owls won the only previous meeting between the two teams in Massachusetts, 67-63 in 2017.  MIT has won the last two overall.
• Albertus Magnus, who plays just two times in November, has nine more days until their next game when they host Middlebury College (3-2) on Thursday, December 2 (7:00 p.m.).