BOSTON, Mass. – Emerson College hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions with less than 1:15 to go while the Keene State College men's basketball team missed a pair of their own tries from long range and turned the ball over in that key stretch, eventually suffering an 88-82 loss in the first-ever meeting between the teams on Monday night at Brown & Plofker Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  6-2
• Emerson:  6-2

How It Happened
The Owls took a 45-40 lead into the halftime break and led for nearly the entire opening 13 minutes of the second half, but the Lions' Max Davis – who scored a career-high 25 points off the bench – hit a three to bring his team within one (65-64) with 8:15 to go, which kicked off a game-closing push where Emerson scored 27 points in that span to give KSC a second road loss in their last three away from Spaulding Gymnasium.  Davis scored 13 points alone in the second half, making 3-of-5 from three, and the Lions as a team made 5-of-9 from deep (KSC 4-of-9) in the final 20 minutes while also outscoring the Owls 15-5 at the foul line in the period (18-7 overall in the game).  Keene State made just 7-of-12 (58 percent) free throws.  Emerson made 18-of-24 from the charity stripe, with leading scorer and 6-foot-10 center Jarred Houston making 8-of-10 to score 12 points.  He was just 2-of-5 from the field, but grabbed 18 rebounds, dished out seven assists, and blocked four shots.  Despite Houston, the Owls outrebounded Emerson 40-30, outscored the Lions 46-24 in the paint and 12-8 on second chances, but were minus-21 in bench points and minus-11 at the foul line.  KSC was plus-12 on the boards in the first 20 minutes and 5-of-8 from three point range to turn around a 28-22 deficit into the first half into a 45-40 edge at the break, and eventually 60-54 with 12:15 to go in regulation, but they could not hold down the reserves of Emerson, who combined to shoot 15-for-28 (54 percent) from the floor and 8-of-14 from deep in the contest while scoring 44 points.  The Owls grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, but only one came in the final 13 minutes as Emerson routinely limited KSC to just one shot per possession.  Octavio Brito's putback of Jeff Hunter's miss had the Owls up 56-51 with 13:21 left, and Jeric Cichon's layup a little over a minute later made it a 60-54 game, but KSC then missed their next two shots and turned the ball over as Emerson tied it for the first time in the half with their first of what turned into several scoring runs down the stretch.  They later rattled off seven more points in a row to flip a four-point deficit into a 68-65 lead, and the Owls never led again, only drawing even once more on Jordan Santos' triple that made it 68-68 with 5:59 left.  A layup by Zach Waterhouse kicked off another run of Lion points to put the home team up six with 4:16 remaining, but KSC did hang around for the moment as buckets by Hunter and Cichon twice brought them within two, the last of which coming at 76-74 with 1:57 to go.  However, the Owls were unable to contain the three-point line and it bit them in two critical spots, the first by James Beckwith, who got a second chance after Chad Dicenzo's offensive rebound, and then Dicenzo connected on his own after a steal to make it 82-74 with 30 seconds left.  Emerson went 6-for-8 from the foul line in the final 12 seconds to seal the win, improving to 4-1 at home.

Keene State appeared to have the momentum heading into halftime, as after a 6-2 run to open the night, Emerson hit back with a 13-4 burst to go ahead by five and was up 28-22 following consecutive layups by Waterhouse before the Owls finished strong, outscoring the Lions 23-12 over the final 6:21 of the half.  Brito (4-7 FG, 3-3 in opening 20 minutes) and James Anozie (5-10 FG) were big reasons why KSC bounced back, combining for 21 points and 15 rebounds.  However, the Owls could not hold on after surrendering 48 points in the second half, their highest half total allowed this season, while being outscored by 11, also a season-high.

The Owls put five in double-figures for the fourth time this season, paced by 14 points apiece from Hunter and Anozie.  Hunter added six assists, and KSC again had more helpers than turnovers.  Mason Jean Baptiste and Brito (5-9 FG, 3-3 FT) added 13 and Siow 12.

Waterhouse had 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and three rebounds.  Beckwith finished with 10.

Inside the Paint

• The teams combined for 40 assists and 24 turnovers on the game (KSC 18-13 A/TO, Emerson 22-11 A/TO).  The Lions were the first Owl opponent to have a positive ratio and committed the fewest miscues against KSC.
• Keene State shot a season-high 53 percent (9-for-17) from three-point range.  They had not been better than 41 percent from deep in any previous game this season.
• Jean Baptiste has made at least three triples in all but one game this season and is shooting 44 percent from behind the arc overall on 54 attempts.

Up Next

• The Owls have a pair of important league matchups this week on the road as their busy stretch continues with a visit to Plymouth State University (6-3, 1-0 LEC) on Wednesday night (December 8) at 7:30 p.m.  The Panthers have won two straight since a loss to Emerson, including an 83-79 win at Western Connecticut State University last Saturday in their league opener.  It was their first win in Danbury since December of 2005, snapping a 15-game losing streak.
• Emerson visits Worcester State University on Thursday, December 9 for a 7:00 p.m. tip.