PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Jordan Cooper scored a game-high 26 points and the Keene State College men's basketball team pulled away from a 40-40 halftime tie to take an 11-point lead with 7:39 left, but the Owls made just two of their final nine shots from the field and suffered a 78-76 loss to Plymouth State University at Foley Gymnasium to kick off a three-game week on Tuesday night.

KSC (5-7, 2-2 LEC) was coming off an uplifting 21-point win over the University of Southern Maine on Saturday to begin the calendar year and Plymouth (5-7, 1-2 LEC) returned from a long holiday break by losing 82-50 to Norwich University on the same day, but it was the Panthers who set the tone early and ultimately made the plays late to post their first win in the series since 2022.

The Owls found themselves down 8-0 barely over two minutes in and 18-11 at the 12:52 mark before using an 11-4 burst to erase the Panthers' start fully and tie the game at 22, but they never gained any separation as they allowed PSU to shoot 57 percent in the first half as the teams went into the locker room even.  KSC shot just 35 percent in the opening 20 minutes but made 8-of-20 from three and got a combined 19 points from Jordan Cooper and Mitch Shettles while also forcing 10 turnovers, accumulating a 15-4 edge in points off miscues.

Neither offense was torching the nets early in the second half, but the Owls flipped a 49-46 deficit into a 64-53 lead in what seemed like a game-changing 18-4 burst that took 4:46 midway through the period.  KSC made 5-of-7 from the floor and all six free throws in that span, with Cooper dazzling to the tune of 13 points to overtake the game.  Defensively, the Owls held the Panthers to just 1-for-8 from the field, 0-for-2 from deep, and forced two turnovers in the run to take the game's first – and ultimately only – double-digit advantage.

Eli Pockette, who was a thorn in KSC's side all night and scored a game-high 22 points, scored what turned out to be among the five most important points for the Panthers to stop the Owls' run, getting his team back within 64-58 with 6:20 to go.  Torran Bosworth then scored five straight point in 35 seconds to make it a one-possession game barely over a minute later, and Brady Hulland's triple with four minutes to go tied it 66-66.  In PSU's 13-2 game-tying surge, KSC missed all three shots from the field and was 2-for-4 from the foul line.  The charity stripe became problematic in a second half in which neither team was efficient from the field, as the Owls made just 17-of-26 (65 percent).  Plymouth was 14-for-18.

Two free throws by Isaac Ogutuga with 3:16 left gave KSC a two-point lead and a offensive rebound and basket by Denis Wainaina made it 70-68 with 1:47 remaining.  But the game changed in a 14-second span thereafter, as Yansel Reyes made a three and KSC turned the ball over, leading to a Hulland layup that put the Panthers up 73-70.  The Owls then missed a pair of important free throws, but forced a miss by Pockette on then next Plymouth possession to keep it a one-possession game.  Wainaina was fouled and made two from the line to make it 73-72 with 42 seconds remaining, but then fouled Bosworth, who made two from the line with 31 seconds on the clock.  Cooper was fouled on the next trip with 11 seconds left and made one of the two.  It nearly worked out, as Kareem Porter Jr. grabbed the offensive board, but he missed the putback and Asante Aurora made two from the line to make it 77-73.  Blakey made a three with a second to go to make it a one-point game, but the Panthers inbounded to Aurora who made one of two to improve to 2-3 at home, their only previous victory this season at Foley Gymnasium coming on December 3 against Colby-Sawyer College.

"It was a tough night offensively and poor late game execution," said KSC head coach Steve Enright.  "Credit to Plymouth State.  We need to have a short memory and move onto Eastern Connecticut."

KSC shot 33 percent from the field overall in the game and Plymouth State just 42 percent - though after a 16-for-28 effort in the opening 20 minutes were only 10-for-34 in the second half.  But Pockette, Aurora, and Bosworth combined for 27 points (nine apiece) in the final 20 minutes and the Panthers had nine offensive rebounds.

The Owls and Warriors (9-3, 1-2 LEC) tip-off at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.  ECSU has lost two straight at home, 83-79 to the University of Massachusetts-Boston and 94-82 to the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.