KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College men's basketball team led by seven with nine minutes to go in the first half, but fell behind by two four minutes later and never led again as they lost their home opener 78-73 to Western New England University on Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Postgame Interview (Coach Enright)

KSC, who is 0-3 for the first time in 12 years and saw an 18-game home winning streak snapped, kept trying to claw back, trimming a 12-point deficit with 6:16 left to one possession at 72-70 with 40 seconds left after Mitch Shettles made a three – but they never made that one more play to make it truly interesting as the Golden Bears held on for their first win in Keene in 11 years.  The Owls had beaten WNE in the season-opener each of the last two years, including by 36 points two years ago on the same court.

Keene State pressured the inbound after Shettles made it a one-possession game and had the Golden Bears running around some, but Nate Kasper got the ball into the front court and was fouled by Josh Williams before the Owls could force a turnover.  He made both free throws to make it 74-70.  KSC then had two chances to make it a one-possession game with over 20 seconds left, but Allyn Wright missed inside and Williams was then long on a three-pointer, which went out of bounds to WNE.  Matt Houde, who finished with a game-high 21 points (6-11 FG, 2-5 3-PT, 7-8 FT) made two at the line to make it a six-point game with 10 seconds left.  Shettles, who was 4-of-8 from three on the day, buried one from long distance with five seconds remaining to make it 76-73 – but as mentioned KSC could not make one more play to further turn their momentum.  Luka Vlajkovic then iced the game with two free throws for the Golden Bears, who were 26-of-32 at the foul line.
From the time the Owls led by a game-high seven to when they trailed by 12, a span of 22:48, KSC was plagued by miscues, turning the ball over 11 times and making just 12-of-32 from the floor while Western New England was 19-of-35.  Wright kept the Owls afloat, scoring a third of their points (13) in that span.  He finished 5-of-9 from the floor and added four assists, three steals, and two rebounds in his home debut.

The Owls turned the ball over a season-high 16 times, helping negate season-highs of eight blocks and eight steals.  KSC's 9-of-23 effort from three was also an early-season best, but they were just 15-for-38 (39 percent) from inside the arc.  They have shot below 40 percent in each of their last two losses.

Two of KSC's three defeats so far this season are by five points or less, but they have also allowed opponents to shoot at least 30 free throws in three games and 99 overall.  They have been called for 22 more fouls than their opponents.

Early on, it seemed the Owls were not going to have too many problems – especially scoring – as Wesley Odiase scored at the rim on KSC's first two possessions and had eight points over the first eight minutes as the Owls led 13-6, but he had just two other points in the half after that.  Leo Chaikin made it 16-9 with 10:16 to go in the opening half as WNE could not find much offense, but KSC's momentum was gone less than four minutes later when a free throw tied it at 18 as the Owls went five minutes without a field goal.  WNE led by as many as nine late in the first half before KSC scored eight of the final nine to make it 37-35 at the break.

Western New England never lost their led in the second half despite shooting only 39 percent from the field in the second half including 2-of-10 from three.

Odiase (5-9 FG), Shettles (5-10 FG, 4-8 3-PT), and Jordan Cooper (3-13 FG, 6-10 FT) all had 14 points to lead the Owls while Wright added 13.

WNE had four in double-digits, with Vlajkovic finishing with 15 despite a 4-of-12 effort from the field.  Kasper added 13 points (2-7 FG, 9-12 FT).  Houde, Vlajkovic, and Kasper combined to go 22-for-27 at the foul line.

The Owls will host the Keene State Invitational presented by the Best Western Plus Keene next weekend, beginning with a matchup against Nichols College (1-2) on Friday (November 21) at 7:30 p.m.  The opener at 5:30 p.m. will feature St. Joseph's College (Maine) and 19th-ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute, both NCAA tournament teams from a season ago.