Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Needing a win to be the top seed in this weekend's four-team Little East Conference tournament, the Keene State College men's basketball team seemed to be in position to accomplish that. The Owls broke from a 71-71 tie to build a five-point lead and had the ball with a little over a minute to go in regulation, but Eastern Connecticut State University had other ideas, rallying for an 85-83 overtime win behind two critical three-pointers Wednesday night at Geissler Gymnasium.
Records
- Keene State: 5-2, 5-2 LEC
- Eastern Connecticut: 5-3, 3-3 LEC
How It Happened
In a game that saw a whopping 20 ties, 16 lead changes, and neither team lead by more than seven points, it was the Warriors who had the final say, getting a three-pointer from Thomas Close – who had been 0-for-5 from deep on the night – with 2.1 seconds left in overtime to post their fifth victory in six games after an 0-2 start. His make came on the heels of another huge shot at the end of regulation from AJ Edwards, who scored an efficient 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting and tied the game 80-80 with one of his three treys on the evening. Eastern had been 7-for-25 from long-range (28 percent) before connecting on their final two attempts of the game, both crucial in deciding the outcome. Meanwhile, for Keene State, it was a tough pill to swallow, as despite the closeness of the score all evening, they trailed for just 10 seconds in the final 11:08 of regulation. Once they faced that 74-73 deficit with three minutes to go, they nearly instantaneously scored six consecutive points on layups from
Nate Siow,
Jordan Santos, and
Jeff Hunter to turn it into a 79-74 lead with 1:32 left. KSC got the ball back with that advantage in tact following ECSU's missed three, but could not score in close and then fouled Jaylin Palmer while he made a layup to keep the home team within 79-77 with 50 seconds left. After the teams exchanged misses, the Owls made one of two at the line to make it a three-point game, but Edwards forced overtime.
The extra session saw the teams combine to score only eight points and shoot just 2-of-9 (22 percent) from the floor, with both makes coming in the final minute. Siow gave KSC an 83-82 lead with 59 seconds on the clock and then stole the ball from ECSU's Tyreice Woods on the next trip, but after a timeout the Owls missed a jumper that would have made it a three-point game and were then done in by Close – from afar.
Keene State, who had fallen into double-digit deficits very early in the previous two games, turned that around tonight while sprinting out to a 9-2 lead in the opening 2:31 of the game, scoring nine straight points after the Warriors' opening basket. Five of those came from Siow, who finished with 12 points, six steals, and four assists. The Owls still led 19-12 at the 11:20 mark after
Mason Jean Baptiste, who had another strong showing his young career, connected from distance, but Eastern Connecticut reeled off eight in a row in less than two minutes, eventually leading to the continuous back-and-forth from the teams thereafter. A conventional three-point play from Close and a layup by Sharown Fowler with 4:58 to go in the opening half pushed the Warriors out to their game-high five-point edge (34-29), but the Owls rebounded for a 39-38 halftime lead.
The loss put a damper on Jean Baptiste's performance, as the freshman from Lynn, Mass. finished with a season-best 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. He also connected on 4-of-8 from long range, which was half of KSC's makes from deep. Hunter put up his sixth double-double in seven games, finishing with 17 points (7-16 FG), 12 rebounds, and two blocks.
James Anozie grabbed 11 boards, but Keene State was unable to overcome an 8-for-31 (26 percent) showing from three and a 17-for-28 (61 percent) effort at the free throw line. Woods finished with 15 points (5-13 FG) and Cory Muckle 10 points and nine rebounds for ECSU.
Inside the Paint
- Jean Baptiste has scored in double-figures in every game but one and is now shooting 39 percent from long range in his rookie campaign. However, the Owls as a team are shooting just 29 percent from deep overall and 25 percent (14-for-57) in their two losses.
- Eastern Connecticut's bench outscored their KSC counterparts 48-21.
- The teams split their two-game head-to-head series for the third consecutive year and have split 58 meetings dating back to 1997, but KSC still has only one win at Geissler Gymnasium in the regular season since 2012.
Up Next
- Keene State does not have to wait long for an opportunity to wash the taste of this outcome away, as with the loss tonight giving the Owls the No. 2 seed, the third-seeded Warriors will visit Spaulding Gymnasium on Friday (February 26) for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off in the Little East tournament semifinals. This will be the 11th time KSC and ECSU tangle in the conference tournament. They have, you guessed it, split the first ten. The other matchup sees now top-seeded UMass-Dartmouth (6-2, 6-2 LEC) take on fourth-seeded Rhode Island College (1-5, 1-5 LEC). The two semifinal winners will play in the championship Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at the site of the highest remaining seed.
