OSHKOSH, Wis. – The Keene State College men's basketball team ran out to a 10-point lead less than seven minutes into the game and still by that margin with 5:45 to go in the first half, but the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse would go on to score the final 16 points of the period and never looked back, running away to an 81-66 win over the Owls at the Oshkosh Arena as part of the BSN Winter Classic hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

It is the first time KSC (6-3) has lost consecutive games since January 31 and February 2, 2022, when they lost 76-60 at home to the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and 64-61 at Eastern Connecticut State University.  That was part of a stretch where the Owls lost four of six in a span where they played eight games in the final 16 days of January.  KSC would go on to right the ship, winning six straight down the stretch including a 23-point road semifinal win at ECSU, an upset of No. 24 UMass-Dartmouth in the LEC championship, and an 84-83 win over No. 20 Swarthmore College in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Owls will look for a similar turnaround this year starting on Saturday when they host Connecticut College, but it was not a friendly weekend in Wisconsin as they were outscored by a combined 29 points in the second half and allowed Oshkosh and La Crosse to shoot 31-for-56 (56 percent) from the floor combined after halftime, 8-of-13 from free, and sent them to the free throw line 48 times.  KSC, meanwhile, shot less than 40 percent overall from the floor in both contests, including just 36 percent (25-for-69) today.  The Owls were just 13-for-43 (30 percent) from distance on the weekend and are 1-3 when shooting 33 percent or less from three in a game this season.

A day after surrendering 105 points and leading only once at 17-16, KSC got off to a far stronger start particularly on the defensive end of the court, holding the Eagles to just 13 points over the opening 10 minutes.  The Owls led 15-6 at the 14:42 mark after Octavio Brito and Mitch Shettles buried triples on consecutive possessions, and it was a 23-11 edge with 11:38 left in the opening half after Joshua Williams' steal and layup.  Nate Siow sliced through the lane for a layup a minute later to make it 25-13 and KSC seemed well on their way to a strong half, but were held to four points over the final 10:03 as the game flipped significantly.  After Shettles made two free throws to keep the Owls in front by double-digits (29-19) with 5:45 to go until the break, it was all La Crosse from there, tying the game on Torin Hannah's layup barely over three minutes later.  Consecutive layups with a minute to go pushed UWL in front by four and gave them their first lead of the game before two free throws with two seconds left made it 35-29.  The Owls shot only 34 percent (11-32) in the first half despite leading for much of it.

Keene State quickly got within one in the opening 53 seconds of the half as Wesley Odiase scored inside and Mason Jean Baptiste hit a three, but the Owls offense then hit another drought, scoring four points over the next six minutes to tumble into a 49-38 deficit following a Will Fuhrmann layup with 13:48 left.  Brito answered with a three to temporarily answer, but the Owls kept sliding down a hill thereafter, falling behind 61-45 at the 9:40 mark.  They never got the UWL lead down to single-digits again.  Not only was the opponent's offense efficient against the Owls for a second consecutive day, but they also owned the glass, as UWL piled up a 49-28 edge including a whopping 28-13 in the final 20 minutes.  KSC had held their own in the first half, getting outrebounded by six but grabbing six offensive rebounds.

Brito finished with 21 points (7-18 FG, 4-8 3-PT, 3-3 FT), four rebounds, and two assists to pace the Owls while Williams (5-9 FG, 3-4 FT) had 13 off the bench.  KSC had a 16-8 edge in turnovers but was minus-14 in points in the paint and minus-11 in points off turnovers. 

Sam Grieger led Wisconsin-La Crosse with a 16-point (7-11 FG, 2-4 FT), eight rebound effort.  Karter Thomas added 15 points and six boards, while JJ Paider had a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double on 5-of-8 shooting.  He and Dustin Derousseau combined for five blocks.

"These two games certainly exposed some breakdowns," said Keene State head coach Steve Enright.  "I am confident we will be able to learn from this experience and get back to playing Keene State basketball.  We will make the necessary adjustments and have turned the focus to being ready for Connecticut College."

The Owls and Camels (7-5) will tip-off at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at Spaulding Gymnasium.  Connecticut College is coming off a pair of wins over Western Connecticut State University (80-64) and Farmingdale State College (67-55) at the University of St. Joseph Holiday Tournament, rebounding after losing two of three prior to the break including a 42-point loss at New York University.  The Camels are 1-2 against Little East oppositions this year, falling at home to Eastern Connecticut 61-60 and at Rhode Island College 76-69.  KSC won last year's meeting 80-64 in Connecticut against a Conn team that finished 18-7 and 8-2 in the NESCAC.

BSN Winter Classic All-Tournament Team
Karter Thomas (Wisconsin-La Crosse)
Sam Grieger (Wisconsin-La Crosse)
Michael Metcalf-Grassman (Wisconsin-Oshkosh)
Jonah Rindfleisch (Wisconsin-Oshkosh)
Bradley Cimperman (Hamline)