PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Jeff Hunter narrowly missed a triple-double while scoring a career-high in points and the Keene State College men's basketball team recorded a top-10 single-game team assist mark in NCAA Division III this season as the Owls drilled Rhode Island College 99-79 in Little East Conference action Saturday afternoon at The Murray Center.

Records

• Keene State:  8-2, 3-0 LEC
• Rhode Island College:  8-2, 2-1 LEC

How It Happened
After shooting 70 percent in the second half of Wednesday's runaway 86-62 win at Plymouth State University, the Owls did not slow at all today as they improved to 3-0 in conference play with a pair of wins over two now 2-1 teams.  KSC is also 8-2 overall, winners of four of their last five, and are averaging 90.6 points and 19.8 assists per game, both of which would be within the top 15 nationally.  Their assist total would be in the top 10, and their 37 (on 41 field goals) this afternoon are tied for ninth-most in a single NCAA Division III game this season.  The top six marks were all achieved against Greenville University, which employs a "Grinnell system" style offense, while one other total was done against a non-NCAA Division III team.  The Owls racked up 23 assists in the first half alone, shooting 68 percent (23-for-34) as they blitzed the Anchormen 53-32 in the opening 20 minutes.  The Owl lead was in double-digits (24-12) less than eight minutes in after the sharp-shooting Mason Jean Baptiste drained a three and ballooned to 23 less than 13 minutes in when Octavio Brito, who was playing in his home state after playing his high school ball at Lincoln, connected on a jumper that made it 40-17.  The KSC lead was never lower than 16 after that in the half, and they went into the break up 21 after a triple by Max Bonney-Liles and a layup by James Anozie in the final 1:09.  The Anchormen, who entered 4-0 with four double-digit wins at home this season, led just one time in the game (5-4), and it lasted for 14 seconds.  KSC began a 13-3 push immediately thereafter, taking a 17-8 lead after Anozie's layup at the 4:01 mark, and their advantage only kept growing from there.  Hunter made all eight of his first half shots and Anozie all five of his, while Brito was also 3-for-3.  Jeric Cichon was 3-for-4 and scored eight, and Bonney-Liles 2-for-4.  The Owls outscored the Anchormen 36-20 in the paint and 14-5 off turnovers while handing them their most lopsided half since the last meeting between the teams when KSC rode a 59-38 second half to a 103-88 win in Keene last February.

Rhode Island College guard Shion Darby, who recently surpassed the 1,000 career point milestone, turned in a blistering second half for the Anchormen as he racked up 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting (3-of-5 from three) and three steals – finishing with 37 in the game (14-29 FG, 4-8 3-PT) – but it did not result in his team making any dent in the Owl lead as KSC's potent offense continued to have their way.  Cichon tallied 14 points (6-8 FG, 2-2 FT) and four assists in the final 20 minutes, finishing with 22 points (9-12 FG, 4-4 FT), seven assists, six rebounds, and two steals in the game.  Hunter chipped in 12 points and eight boards after the break as the Owls cruised to the win, shooting 58 percent in the second half, making 10-of-14 free throws and piling up 14 assists as a team while never letting Rhode Island College get closer than 13.  Darby scored on consecutive trips to make it 63-50 with 14:08 left, but Keene State immediately responded with six in a row and wound up kicking off a 22-12 burst over the next seven minutes that pushed their lead right back up to 23 again (85-62) with 6:59 left.  Hunter concluded his thoroughly impressive afternoon with a career-best 30 points on 12-of-14 shooting (6-7 FT), 11 rebounds, eight assists, one block, and one steal.  He continues to torment Rhode Island College in his career, averaging 24.2 points per game while shooting a staggering 73 percent (4-4 from three) in five head-to-head matchups.  The standout Owl junior has also grabbed 60 rebounds and dished out 15 assists against RIC, against whom Keene State has won four in a row against as a team by an average of 14.8 points per game.  Since the Anchormen led the Owls by 16 with 8:10 to go in Keene on February 15, 2020 (an eventual 84-80 loss), they have been outscored by 75 points in the series.

Anozie was 7-of-7 from the field and scored 14 points.  Bonney-Liles rounded out the four double-figure scorers for KSC with 11 on 5-of-10 shooting.  Brito finished with eight points, six rebounds, and four assists.

Inside the Paint

• Keene State has won four of their last five at The Murray Center, all by at least 19 points, and is 13-2 in their last 15 overall against RIC.
• The Owls have recorded at least 21 assists in half of their games and are 5-0 when doing so.  They have 61 more assists than miscues on the season, and have forced their opponents into 47 more turnovers than they have recorded assists.
• Cichon has scored 34 points on 14-of-22 shooting and grabbed 17 rebounds while adding 15 assists and six steals in the last two games.
• Anozie (64.3 percent), Hunter (63.0), and Jean Baptiste (46.4) are all within the top six in the LEC in individual field goal percentage.  The Owls as a team have the highest scoring offense by over four points per game (90.6) and are shooting a league-best 51.2 percent as a team that would rank ninth nationally entering play today.

Up Next

• Keene State has an exhibition game at Division I University of New Hampshire (4-4) on Monday night (December 13) to conclude a stretch of five games in nine days.  Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. and you can catch the action on ESPN3 or ESPN+.  The Owls are then off for 16 days until they travel to Roanoke College (Va.) for the Cregger Invitational just before the New Year.
• Rhode Island College hosts Curry College (2-7) on the same night at 6:00 p.m.