Box Score

CLINTON, N.Y. – Jordan Cooper can only hope in 12 days his gift bags are as stuffed as his stat line was Saturday in the Keene State College men's basketball team's final game before an 18-day holiday break.  The junior transfer and North Carolina native finished with 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting, 4-of-8 from deep, eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals while accumulating a plus-20 rating in just less than 29 minutes to help the Owls crush Hamilton College 80-60 at the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House.

Highlights

KSC (4-5) made a season-best 14-of-28 from long range – with four Owls making multiple – including 8-of-15 on the way to a 46-29 halftime advantage, and the Continentals (2-8) never threatened in the second half.  The Owls limited Hamilton, who suffered their worst home loss of the season, to just 34 percent shooting from the field and 6-of-25 from three.

Cooper, who finished just three points shy of his Keene State career-high set in his debut in November, scored 11 in the first half and then exploded for 16 in the second (5-7 FG, 3-5 3-PT, 3-3 FT), helping the Owls win for the fourth time in the past six games.  He was fouled shooting a three 12 seconds out of the locker room and made all three from the line to push the KSC lead to 20 (49-29), and he hit another two minutes later to make it 52-33.  Cooper poked the ball away from Robert Cain from behind and leaked out for a transition layup off a Ryan Blakey feed at the 15:07 mark for a 23-point lead and the Owls' advantage ballooned to as many as 24 (63-39) with 12:38 to go on Josh Williams' triple.

Hamilton made one push, trimming their deficit to 65-51 with 7:20 left, but Cooper – fittingly – drained treys on consecutive possessions to put the lead right back to 20 as KSC posted a dominant victory in just their second-ever trip to Clinton and third-ever matchup in the series.  The only previous time the Owls hit the New York State thruway, they fell 85-80 to a fifth-ranked Hamilton team January 3, 2019 when Ty Nichols fouled out with nine minutes to go.

There was no drama today, as KSC never trailed, taking a 7-2 lead less than two minutes in on a three by Mitch Shettles.  Jalen Reese's triple brought the Continentals within 9-6 at the 14:23 mark of the opening half, but that was as close as the hosts ever got, as KSC ripped off nine points in a row in only 1:14 including two consecutive old-fashioned three-point plays by Leo Chaikin to make it 21-9.  Cooper's layup had the Owls up 25-11 halfway through the half, and they withstood a Hamilton run to hold a commanding lead at halftime.  Jack Stowell's three-point play brought the hosts within 28-23 with seven minutes to go, but Allyn Wright and Liam Johnston hit from deep on consecutive trips after two Blakey free throws to give the Owls a 36-23 edge that grew to a game-high 17 (46-29) after Blakey again went 2-for-2 at the line with 1:01 left in the half.

"It is good to win a road game convincingly going into the break," said KSC head coach Steve Enright.  "It gives us a chance to reset on a high note."

KSC finishes the first portion of the season at 4-5, with three of the losses coming to nationally ranked teams and four of the five losses by five points or less.

But the four-time LEC champions and preseason conference favorite likely know the best version of themselves is yet to come.

After shooting below 40 percent in four of their opening six games, they have now shot 49 and 47 percent overall from the floor in two of their last three games while also making double-digit threes for the second time in the last three games after being in single-digits in each of the first five games.

KSC also rebounded on defense, holding Hamilton to a 23-for-67 effort from the floor including 10-of-33 in the first half after allowing the University of Massachusetts-Boston to shoot 57 percent in the second half and 50 percent overall in an upset home loss last weekend.

"I felt like our defensive effort today was solid.  For the most part they had to earn the points they scored today, unlike in the last couple games where our breakdowns allowed the opponent to score," added Enright.  "We got good contributions across the board and we made shots.  We need to do a much better job of not turning it over going forward.  Jordan (Cooper) turned in a very solid performance on both sides of the ball."

The Owls improved to 2-1 when Cooper scores more than 20, outscoring opponents by a combined 32 in those three games.  KSC also got 24 points from their bench, with Johnston and Williams combining for 14 big points.

After the holiday break, the Owls will travel to Brandeis University (5-4) on New Year's Eve (Wednesday, December 31) for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off before opening 2026 with a league home game against the University of Southern Maine on Saturday, January 3 at 3:00 p.m.