NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Keene State College men's basketball team played from behind nearly the entire game before scratching and clawing their way to a possible game-tying three to force overtime, but they could not convert, and as a result have dropped four of their last six games – two to 25th-ranked University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth – after an 84-81 loss to the Corsairs in an important Little East Conference game at the Tripp Athletic Center Wednesday night.

Records

• Keene State:  15-6, 10-4 LEC
• No. 25 UMass-Dartmouth:  19-2, 11-1 LEC

How It Happened
The Owls entered the evening looking to atone for a 76-60 home loss on January 31 – a game in which KSC was outscored 27-6 after leading 54-49 with less than 12 minutes to go – and make the race for the conference's top seed interesting down the stretch, but Mason Jean Baptiste could not connect on a triple in the final seconds that would have forced overtime.  With it, a UMass-Dartmouth team that appeared in the d3hoops.com Top 25 poll for the first time this season earlier this week, has now won 12 games in a row, and improved to 11-0 at home, is almost assuredly going to be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Little East Conference tournament that begins February 21.  Keene State, who started 8-0 in league play and was in first place the first time these teams met nine days ago, is now two games out and just a half game ahead of Eastern Connecticut State University for third while not having the tiebreaker with the Warriors, who beat UMD earlier this season.  ECSU has played one fewer game than the Owls, and will make that up on Monday at the University of Southern Maine (4-8 LEC).

Tonight, Keene State found their three-point shooting stroke (going 10-for-22), made 13-of-16 foul shots, and outrebounded the Corsairs 44-30, but they could not overcome 20 turnovers or allowing UMD to shoot 49 percent (30-for-61) from the floor overall.  The Owls were outscored 21-12 off miscues, and despite a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass, were even at 8-8 in second chance points.  KSC faced double-digit deficits in both halves and continued to battle back each time thanks to a stellar career performance from Jeric Cichon and five double-figure scorers overall.  Cichon finished with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 4-of-5 from three-point range, and 4-of-4 at the foul line while also adding nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals.  Jeff Hunter added 13 points (5-9 FG), 12 rebounds, and two blocks, while Ryan Donahue had his third consecutive double-figure scoring output with 12 points, making 3-of-6 from long range and 3-of-4 at the charity stripe.  Nate Siow finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists while flirting with a triple-double.  Octavio Brito had 11 points (5-13 FG), seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals.  KSC trailed by nine at halftime (44-35), chopped their deficit to two less than four minutes into the second half, but then just as fast were back down 12 again (60-48)  with 12:51 to go after the Corsairs made five of their next seven shots.  Down 66-56 with 9:15 remaining, Cichon and Donahue provided a big spark with a pair of triple to bring the Owls within four, and from there it was a game all the way down to crunch time.  UMass-Dartmouth star Marcus Azor put his team ahead by eight at the 5:14 mark, converting nine seconds after an Owl turnover, but Cichon and Hunter buckets less than two minutes later made it 73-69.  After KSC missed three consecutive shots with just under three minutes left, Cichon, who made numerous big baskets down the stretch in his 21-point second half, made a triple on the fourth chance to make it a one-possession game (75-72) with 2:21 on the clock.  UMD's Jackson Zancan made only 1-of-2 at the line on the other side and back came Cichon again, making two free throws to make it a two-point game (76-74) with 1:54 remaining, the closest KSC had been since it was 46-44.  However, the Owls never got the requisite defensive stops over the course of the night, as Azor found Adam Seablom for an immediate three to push UMD's lead back to five.  After Cichon again made it a one-possession deficit, Azor then found Zancan for a layup inside with 51 seconds left to make it 81-76.  Donahue was fouled and made two from the line on the other side to keep KSC in it, and after Seablom was 1-of-2 at the foul line, the sizzling Cichon canned another trey with six seconds left to make it 82-81.  UMD then inbounded to Azor on the fourth of the five-second count, who was fouled and made both to push the lead to three.  The Owls had a shot to tie when Cichon's baseball pass found Hunter who got it to Jean Baptiste, but his falling away yet open three was off to the right as the Corsairs held on for a critical win in both the conference and regional landscape (both teams were ranked in the initial Region II poll).

Azor barely missed another triple-double, finishing with 26 points (11-20 FG), 10 assists, nine rebounds, and two steals.  Seablom added 18 points (5-10 FG, 4-4 3-PT, 4-5 FT), five rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while Sean Leahy had 16 points (7-13 FG, 2-4 3-PT), three rebounds, and three assists.

Azor made 7-of-11 from the floor and scored 15 points an opening 20 minutes where the Corsairs made seven of their first 10 shots, opening up a 21-11 lead not even seven minutes in.  KSC was down 11-4 in the blink of an eye (2:01 of game time), tied the game in 55 seconds, but then surrendered the next 10 in a row as they played catch-up the entire night.  Siow and Brito scored midway through the first half to make it a three-point, 23-20 game, but six minutes later KSC was down by a game-high 13 before getting it to nine at the break.

Inside the Paint

• Cichon continues an impressive season, scoring 8.9 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the field to go along with 5.4 rebounds and a 70-to-43 assist-to-turnover ratio.  His scoring output tonight surpassed his previous career-high of 23, set earlier this season against Albertus Magnus.
• Keene State leads the all-time series 32-28, but has lost four straight to UMD, never leading in three of those meetings including tonight.
• The Owls have not beaten a nationally-ranked team since a 93-88 win at then-No. 12 Middlebury College on December 1, 2018.
• Four of KSC's six losses this season are by six points or less, and in the other two, they were ahead with less than 10 minutes to go.  Their last two defeats are by a combined six points at ECSU and at UMass-Dartmouth tonight, the current teams just ahead and just behind them in the standings.  They are currently 2-4 in games against the present top four in the LEC pecking order.

Up Next

• KSC is off over the weekend before returning to Spaulding Gymnasium for a Senior Night contest against Castleton University (5-17, 0-13 LEC) on Tuesday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m.  The Owls will honor Justin Williams, Lyndon Prayer, and James Anozie before the game.  Castleton has lost 14 straight.
• UMass-Dartmouth has home-and-home weekend against Plymouth State University (13-9, 8-5 LEC).  The Corsairs visit the Panthers first on Saturday (February 12) at 3:00 p.m. before hosting them on Sunday.