DANBURY, Conn. – The No. 21 nationally-ranked Keene State College men's basketball team used a 33-14 run spanning just under 12 second half minutes to erase a 19-point deficit, but they could not complete the comeback, as Keeshawn Jones made 1-of-2 at the foul line after a controversial foul call with two seconds left to help Western Connecticut State University spoil the Owls' bid for a perfect Little East Conference season for the second consecutive year with a 74-73 win at Feldman Arena on Saturday afternoon.
KSC (19-4, 13-1 LEC) entered the game having won 13 straight and with a magic number of one to clinch the league regular season championship, but was instead handed a bitter loss – one that will hurt when the next official NCAA Power Index rankings are released this coming Monday. WestConn (16-8, 12-3 LEC), meanwhile, kept their faint No. 1 seed hopes alive by winning their eighth straight while improving to 9-2 at home. Their run of victories began after the Owls posted a dominating 100-62 win at Spaulding Gymnasium over the Wolves on January 16 – with KSC at one point leading 44-12 in the first half and by as many as 43 in the second. That was part of a stretch for the Owls that vaulted them to 6-3 upon their return from Wisconsin to 19-3 entering today and ranked No. 14 in the most recent NPI rankings. However, trouble began to arrive Wednesday when Keene State had to evade an upset bid by short-handed Eastern Connecticut State University, who they had also previously beaten by 38 points, at home – winning by two after the Warriors turned the ball over on the final possession with a chance to win the game.
Today, Keene State despite a spirited finish could not escape, unable to overcome a freezing cold 4-for-19 (21 percent) start from three-point range. WestConn took their game-high 19 point (56-37) lead with 12:54 to go following a layup by CJ Riley and seemed to be well in command, as they turned a very early seven-point deficit into a 25-17 lead with 6:17 to go in the opening half. The Wolves' halftime lead ballooned to 12, and the home team led by double-figures all the way until KSC's late run, with two
Leo Chaikin free throws with 7:42 left making it 62-53. It seemed WestConn was going to stave off the Owls initially, as after two
Ryan Blakey free throws at the 6:10 mark made it a five-point lead (chopping 13 points off the deficit in less than four minutes), Jourdan Belcher scored inside with 5:02 to go to make it 67-58. However,
Mason Jean Baptiste made another of his eye-popping five second half triples (on six attempts) to answer – and then connected again from beyond the arc with 3:24 on the clock to make it a one-possession game (68-66).
The Owls then had chances to tie or take the lead in the final minutes and could not. Brito made one of two free throws at the 2:44 mark to make it 68-67.
Nate Siow then scored inside on KSC's next offensive trip to make it a one-point game again and the Owls forced a turnover, but Brito was then called for an offensive foul that also fouled him out of the game with 1:35 left. After Western Connecticut missed to give KSC another chance, Siow was fouled and had two at the line to possibly give his team their first lead since early in the first half but had to settle for one of two to make it 70-70. Cameron Gallon then made a critical three to put the home team back in front with 43 seconds to go – and would guarantee them the ball again in no worse than a tie game. The Owls did respond thanks to a third-chance catch-and-shoot three following a timeout as
Mitch Shettles connected from the corner with 24 seconds remaining, but the game-deciding play happened with exactly two seconds left when Chaikin was called for a foul – contact to the head according to the referee despite the block of Jones seeming clean – and Jones made the second of two free throws that ultimately proved to be the winner as Blakey could not get an attempt from half court off in time.
KSC wound up shooting a blistering 8-of-14 (57 percent) from three in the second half, but WestConn kept pace just enough by shooting 4-of-7 themselves in the final 20 minutes and 7-of-12 (58 percent) overall. In the first meeting between the two teams, WCSU was outscored 54-9 from three-point range as the Owls shot 18-for-43.
"Credit to WestConn for the win. Unfortunately, we dug ourselves too big a hole in the first 25 minutes or so of the game," said KSC head coach Steve Enright. "I'm proud of our fight to put ourselves in position to potentially steal the win late, but we came up short. Hopefully we play with more urgency on Wednesday. If we use this correctly, it can be a healthy reset for our team. On to UMass-Dartmouth."
Brito finished with 26 points (10-17 FG, 5-6 FT), nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals to pace KSC before fouling out. Jean Baptiste (5-8 3-PT) added 15 points and
Wesley Odiase (5-11 FG) had 12 points and five boards.
WestConn got 16 points apiece from Gallon (5-13 FG, 3-5 3-PT, 3-4 FT) and Jones (6-11 FG, 1-3 3-PT, 3-6 FT). Tayejon Lynch added 12 points (3-5 FG, 2-3 3-PT, 4-5 FT) and five assists off the bench as the Wolves won for just the second time in the last 10 head-to-head meetings against KSC.
The Owls were aiming for their second perfect LEC season in the last three – but it was again foiled by the Wolves in the 14th game of the season, last year posting a stunning 76-73 win at Spaulding Gymnasium on February 10. KSC would rebound to win their next six games, including an 84-68 rout of WCSU in the LEC championship, en route to the NCAA Sweet 16.
Keene State maintains a game and a half lead over the Wolves in the race for the regular season championship. They will have another chance to win their eighth regular season league crown this Wednesday (February 19) when they host the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (9-14, 6-8 LEC) at 7:30 p.m. KSC beat the Corsairs, who are 9-22 all-time at Spaulding Gymnasium, 108-96 in North Dartmouth in January. UMD, who is in the mix to host a quarterfinal home game, lost 89-73 at the University of Southern Maine this afternoon.
