WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Keene State College men's basketball team shot eight percentage points better than Eastern Connecticut State University on Wednesday night, but committed eight more turnovers than the Warriors and went only 8-for-15 at the foul line as they lost for the third time in the last four games, 64-61 in Little East Conference action at Geissler Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  14-5, 9-3 LEC
• Eastern Connecticut:  12-7, 7-4 LEC

How It Happened
After a tumultuous final 10 minutes against first-place University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Monday night, Keene State got off to a strong start, opening a 7-0 lead just 1:25 in on four points from sophomore Nate Siow and three from freshman Ryan Donahue, who shined in his first career start with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting (3-3 3-PT, 2-2 FT).  Eastern Connecticut responded with eight in a row immediately, but the Owls wound up taking a 35-31 lead into the locker room at halftime behind a solid offensive half where they shot 48 percent (12-25), made 5-of-11 from three (45 percent), and 6-of-8 at the foul line.  However, the Owls managed just 26 second half points, and after falling behind 39-37 with 15:52 to go, never led again, tying the game just once at 39 thereafter.  The Warriors turned a two-point, 43-41 lead into a game-high 53-44 edge at the 10:36 mark following a 10-3 burst that took 2:50 of game action behind six points from Jalen Williams and four from Tyreice Woods.  The duo combined to score 22 of the Warriors' 33 second half points, going 12-for-12 at the free throw line between them to offset a 5-for-18 shooting performance from the field, and it ultimately proved to be enough.  Down nine, Keene State bounced back, getting within 53-49 after a triple from Siow and transition dunk from Brito with 9:18 left, but Max Lee put his team back up eight (58-50) about three minutes later with a triple.  That key shot was one of only two Eastern Connecticut field goals in the final 10:09, as they missed 14 of their final 16 shots, yet won the second half 33-26 despite a 32 percent showing from the field because they outscored Keene State by 12 at the free throw line.  The Owls sliced a 60-53 deficit to one in barely over a minute with layups on three consecutive possessions from Jeric Cichon, Jeff Hunter, and Siow and had a chance to go back in front after Octavio Brito was fouled with 2:31 to go, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity.  Williams then drew a foul on the other side on the next trip and made both of his free throws to make it 62-59 with 2:13 left.  After Mason Jean Baptiste answered at the 1:57 mark to again bring the Owls within one, ECSU eventually got two free throws from Woods with 1:26 on the clock to make it 64-61, and neither team scored again.  Keene State missed inside on their next trip and, after ECSU could not connect on a jumper before turning the ball over, the Owls missed two threes as they lost in the regular season at Geissler Gymnasium for the tenth time in the last 11 games.  The last two have come by a combined five points.  KSC finished just 2-for-7 from three and 2-for-7 at the foul line in the second half.

Following Keene State's fast start where they took what ended up being their game-high seven point lead not even two minutes in, they committed six turnovers in the next 5:20 as Eastern Connecticut went on a 14-5 run for a two-point lead.  The Owls then turned the ball over three times over the final 13:03 of the first half, eventually taking a 27-21 lead before settling for a four-point lead at the break.  In what ended up being a game-altering stretch as it turns out, Keene State shot only 4-for-13 and committed five turnovers over the opening 9:24 of the second half while seeing their 35-31 edge turn into a 53-44 deficit after behind outscored 22-9.  Even still, they made seven of their next 10 shots from the field while their defense held ECSU to a 2-for-14 effort from the field with five turnovers, but five free throw misses in the final 10:51 and three misses from the field in the last 1:05 prevented them from digging out of the hole.

Siow finished with 12 points (4-8 FG, 2-2 3-PT, 2-2 FT), seven rebounds and four assists for Keene State while Jeff Hunter had 11 points (5-8 FG), nine rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.

Quinton Lott finished with nine points (3-5 FG, 3-5 FT) and eight rebounds while Max Lee had seven points (3-5 FG, 1-1 3-PT), three rebounds and three assists for ECSU, who is 10-1 at home this season (6-0 vs. LEC).

Inside the Paint

• Donahue, in 85 minutes this season, has scored 45 points on 18-for-29 shooting (6-for-13 from three and 3-of-3 at the foul line).
• Siow has five consecutive double-digit scoring efforts, the most of his young career.  He has made 27-of-51 from the field (53 percent) in that span.
• The Owls are now two games behind UMass-Dartmouth in the loss column for first place in the conference standings.  In KSC's last three defeats, including one game apiece against the teams now directly ahead and behind them in the standings, they have shot 33.7 percent overall from the field in the second half, 6-of-23 from three, and 7-for-17 at the foul line with 26 total turnovers.  They have led in the second half of each of those contests.

Up Next

• Keene State returns home to host Western Connecticut State University (11-9, 5-7 LEC) on Saturday, February 5 at 3:00 p.m.  WestConn ended a two-game losing streak where they allowed 36 threes and 195 points with a 78-72 home win over Rhode Island College tonight.  KSC won the first meeting 81-80 in Danbury and has taken eight of the last 10 against WCSU overall.
• Eastern Connecticut plays at last place Castleton University (5-14, 0-10 LEC) on the same day (3:00 p.m.).