CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – The two-headed monster of senior forward Jeff Hunter and sophomore guard Octavio Brito combined for an eye-popping 56 points on 23-of-38 (61 percent) shooting and 22 rebounds as the Keene State College men's basketball team led for nearly 35 of the 40 minutes before eventually putting away Maryville College (Tenn.) with a 20-8 late run in the third game of the 2022 Great Lakes Invitational Friday night at Chadwick Court on the campus of Wabash College.

Records

• Keene State:  3-0
• Maryville (Tenn.):  2-2

Postgame Press Conference (Coach Cain, Jeff Hunter)

How It Happened
The Owls took a 10-9 edge on a dunk by Brito at the 15:03 mark of the first half as part of a 12-2 run and ultimately never trailed again, repeatedly warding off several Maryville runs in the process.  The final run for the Scots, which erased a 10-point deficit and forced only the second tie of the game at 55 (the other was at 4-4), was ultimately answered by seven consecutive Keene State points in a 1:11 span, five from Brito and the other bucket by Hunter, as they pushed back in front by seven.  Myles Rasnick, who finished with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting, 10 rebounds, four assists, and four steals, connected from three with 8:36 left in regulation to keep his team in it down four, but the Owls kept going, reeling off six more in a row to take a 68-58 lead with 5:37 to go.  Maryville was held scoreless for over three minutes, and ultimately was to just 11 points over the final 8:35.  An emphatic Brito-to-Hunter alley-oop on one possession followed by a triple from Brito on the ensuing KSC trip helped open a 73-61 edge with 4:13 left, and the Owls were well on their way from there, never being seriously threatened in the final minutes.  Brito's mid-range jumper off a Mason Jean Baptiste steal with a little less than three minutes left had his team in front 75-63.  The Scots got as close as eight on a triple from Charlie Cochran with 1:52 left, but Spencer Aronson drilled a trey on the next possession more or less lock up the Owls' third win of the season.

"We hadn't been in that situation yet and it is about responding to the adversity," said KSC eighth year head coach Ryan Cain.  "We were able to apply a lot of what we talked about in those situations and found something offensively that allowed us to play to our strengths."

Keene State threatened on numerous occasions to pull away, but it never happened until late, and until Maryville had actually tied the game.  The Owls turned a very early 7-4 deficit into an 18-11 lead with a 14-4 push that took a little less than five minutes, but the Scots – as they did more than once – scored the next four to stay within three.  Jean Baptiste and Hunter helped keep KSC in front by seven at 26-19 with 9:21 left in the opening half, but Maryville clawed back within 27-26 less than two minutes later.  A triple by Liam Johnston followed by jumpers from Nate Siow and Hunter on successive Owl possessions quickly pushed the Keene State edge back to eight at the 6:19 mark, but the see-saw continued to swing, as a basket and free throw by Rasnick with less than two minutes to go until the break had his team within 40-38.  Brito quickly responded by being fouled on a layup of his own, and made the free throw, and KSC ultimately carried a 47-40 lead into the locker room behind a 20-point half by Hunter and 13 from Brito.  Maryville was forced into 12 first half turnovers, and ultimately 23 for the game, with the Owls plus-nine (26-17) in points off miscues overall.

Defense ultimately is what helped KSC ice the game in the second half despite more pushes from the Scots, as after a 52 percent (15-for-29) effort from the floor in the opening 20 minutes they were held to only 12-for-33 (36 percent) in the final 20 minutes.  The Owls connected at 48.6 and 48.1 percent, respectively, in both halves, and connected on 4-of-7 from deep in the final 20 minutes after only a 4-for-12 showing to start.  Maryville chipped the seven-point deficit down to three with another seemingly harmless four points in a row right out of the locker room, but those (very) mini runs continually kept them right there on the scoreboard.  They ultimately could not get them over the hump, though.  A jumper by Brito, another dunk by Hunter, and a long-distance make by Jeric Cichon all within about a minute of each other helped the Owls stretch their lead to a game-high 54-44 with 15:12 left as they threatened again to put the game away.  Once more, Maryville answered, this time with an extended 11-1 push that took a little over three minutes to tie the game with 11:13 to go.  The Scots had two chances to take the first lead since 15 minutes were left in the first half, but KSC forced turnovers on both and then got a triple from Brito at the 10:17 mark as they began to pull away, clamping down on the defensive end as Maryville scored just three points over nearly six minutes while seeing the one tie they created disintegrate back into a 10-point deficit again.  This time for good.

Hunter's career-high matching 30-point effort came on 13-of-19 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 at the line.  He added 18 rebounds (six offensive), four blocks, three assists, and three steals.  Brito's 26-point showing continues a torrid start, and came on 10-of-19 shooting (4-of-8 from three) while he also chipped in five assists, four rebounds, and four steals.  Cain called the duo, who are co-captains on this year's team, "the engine that keep us going" and a "dangerous 1-2 punch that is hard to guard."

In addition to Rasnick, Chase Ridenour had 12 points (5-8 FG, 2-4 3-PT) and Cochran 11 points (4-10 F), eight rebounds, and two assists for Maryville, a member of the newly-formed Collegiate Conference of the South, which formed entering this academic year after the 19-member USA South Athletic Conference was restructured and split into two different leagues.  The Scots finished 20-4 last season, including 12-2 away from home, but were upset in the quarterfinals of their conference tournament and did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Inside the Paint

• Brito is shooting 59.6 percent (31-for-52) from the floor over the first three games and is averaging 26.7 points.  Hunter is at 21.3 points per game, shooting 27-for-36 overall (75 percent).  He is at exactly 900 career points and needs 100 more to become the 38th member of the program's 1,000 point club.
• It is KSC's second appearance at the event after they played in the 2019 Great Lakes Invitational hosted by the College of Wooster in Ohio between Christmas and the New Year three years ago.
• Both teams received votes in the d3hoops.com preseason Top 25 poll.  All four teams in the Owls' portion of the classic-style bracket appear somewhere in that ranking, with Marietta College appearing at No. 17 and Wabash also receiving votes.
• It was the third (of four) consecutive first-time opponents for Keene State to open the season.

Up Next

• The Owls are back at it tomorrow night (Saturday, November 19) at 5:30 p.m. against Marietta (2-1) in the penultimate game of the event.  The Pioneers – a Final Four team from a year ago – edged Wabash, another team who was one of the last four standing a year ago, 89-81 in overtime later Friday night.  "[Marietta] is a perennial power...always in the NCAAs and a Final Four team last year.  They have some new faces but they are still the same - the most physical team we play all year.  It will be a nice test for our team tomorrow," said Cain.
• Maryville will take on the Little Giants (3-1) on their home court tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.  The two teams met for the only time in series history 13 years ago.  Wabash had four games on their home court Friday – and four more Saturday.  In Friday's early games, Trine University defeated Benedictine University 59-57 and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology downed Baldwin Wallace University 66-57.