KEENE, N.H. – The nationally No. 12 ranked Keene State College men's basketball team used a 15-3 run midway through the first half to turn a tie into a double-digit lead, and later used a burst of nine more points in a row heading into halftime to push their advantage over 20 as they cruised to a 93-63 home win over Plymouth State University to open their Little East Conference schedule and quest for first-ever four-peat in the league on Wednesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Highlights
Postgame Interview (Coach Enright)
Postgame Interview (Wesley Odiase)

It was just the second time the Owls (5-1, 1-0 LEC) took the court in front of their own fans so far this season – but was more of what KSC fans have been accustomed to seeing: high pace, high energy, and a resounding win as the home team improved to 32-3 in their last 35 games in the Elm City and have won their last eight straight home games.  In the run, which began with a 102-66 win over Rutgers University-Newark on November 11, 2022, KSC has combined to outscore their opponents by 717 points in that span, winning by an average of nearly 23 per game.  Plymouth (6-3, 1-2 LEC) has lost their last three trips to Spaulding Gymnasium by at least 30 points and has dropped 18 of their last 22 in the series overall dating back to 2015.

Tonight, KSC featured a balanced offensive attack with four starters in double-figures to go along with 33 points from reserves.  Octavio Brito finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting and added six rebounds and three assists.  Wesley Odiase chipped in an efficient 16 points (7-10 FG, 1-2 3-PT, 1-2 FT) while Mason Jean Baptiste had 11 and Spencer Aronson 10 on 3-of-7 from deep.  Mitch Shettles (8 pts., 4 reb., 2 stl.) and Leo Chaikin (8 pts., 4-5 FG) narrowly missed out on a double-figure scoring output for the Owls, who saw 11 different people score and assisted on 24 of their 37 made field goals.  Paced by five steals from Joshua Williams, KSC also imposed their will defensively, forcing 21 turnovers and holding Plymouth State to just 35 percent shooting and a 3-of-17 mark from three-point range.  The Panthers were limited to a 10-for-32 clip and 0-for-8 from deep in the opening 20 minutes, which were dominated by Keene State despite a scoreless stretch of more than three minutes to start the game.  Jean Baptiste made a triple at the 16:43 mark to get the Owls on the board, and the home team took off from there, going up 10-6 after he made another triple and was followed by a Chaikin bucket from a nice feed by Nate Siow.

Plymouth tied the game at 13 – the only deadlock of the game – with 11:52 to go in the first half, but was bulldozed from there, finding themselves down 22-13 after KSC ripped off a 9-0 run in just over a minute.  Two triples by Aronson within 50 seconds of each other put the Owls in front 28-16 with 8:14 left until the break, and a Brito to Odiase feed a little over two minutes later made it 35-21.  Ahead by 12, the home five put a punctuation mark on the half by closing on another 9-0 surge – this one taking 1:43 to complete – with the last points coming from Brito as the seconds dwindled.  Jean Baptiste and Aronson combined to score 21 points and shoot 6-for-11 from three in the opening 20 minutes to help their team carry a 46-25 lead to the break.

The visitors never chipped the deficit below 17 over the final 20 minutes, and the only time they did, KSC hit back with a 19-10 spurt that pushed their advantage to 67-41 with 13:15 left.  The uprising fittingly began with a three from Odiase, who had 12 points in that stretch (and Shettles five of the other seven) as the Owls made 8-of-14 shots.
Keene State saved some highlights for the end, as Chaikin finished off an impressive alley-oop from Ryan Blakey to make it 74-50 with 8:58 remaining and on the next possession finished off an impressive lefty scoop layup after weaving through the lane.  Jordan McClain recorded his first career points with a triple at the 3:12 mark that made it 86-59, and Jefferson Smock energized the building in the final minute with a huge putback dunk that marked his initial collegiate points.  Steven Cordero followed with a three 15 seconds later to gave KSC their largest lead at 93-61.

Odiase was 6-of-7 from the field in the second half for a team-best 14 points while Blakey was 3-of-4 from the field and scored seven points after the break.  Odiase is shooting 63 percent on the season, including a 23-for-34 (68 percent) mark over the last three contests.

Plymouth, which was playing their first road game of the season after eight straight at home to start the season, was paced by 19 points from Torran Bosworth, though he was limited to 5-of-14 shooting including 2-of-8 from three.  Kevin Newton-Delgado (6-12 FG, 3-3 FT) finished with 15 points.  Unlike KSC, the Panthers had already played a pair of league games – beating the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth 70-65 and falling to Western Connecticut State University 57-53.

KSC returns to action this Saturday when they visit the University of Southern Maine (5-4, 1-1 LEC) for a conference tilt that tips off at 1:00 p.m.  The Huskies fell 84-80 at Rhode Island College this evening despite a 50-point second half.  Plymouth State is off until Saturday, January 4 when they visit Norwich University (7-1).