KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College men's basketball team built a 12-0 lead in the opening four minutes, never trailed, and led by as many as 16 points in the second half as they posted an important bounce-back victory, beating Eastern Connecticut State University 79-72 in Little East Conference action at Spaulding Gymnasium on Thursday night.
Postgame Interview (Coach Enright)
Postgame Interview (Jordan Cooper)
KSC (6-7, 3-2 LEC) is in the midst of a three-game week featuring all conference games and has been up-and-down, coming off a 78-76 loss at Plymouth State University in which they led by 11 with seven minutes to go, but put together a strong shooting effort from deep (11-for-23, 48 percent) to beat Eastern (9-4, 1-3 LEC) for the ninth straight time in the series. Thanks to a 28-10 edge in points off turnovers – KSC committed 21 miscues – the Warriors hung around in the game, trimming a 28-13 deficit with seven minutes to go in the opening half to just 37-29 at half. It had been the closest they ever got after falling immediately into the 12-point hole. But they never made much more of a dent, as the Owls shot 52 percent (11-for-21) in the second half with
Mitch Shettles,
Jordan Cooper, and
Liam Johnston combining for 28 of KSC's 42 points in the final 20 minutes.
Ahead 43-38, Shettles drained a three with 15:18 left to answer two Julian Sanchez free throws that had gotten the visitors within two possessions. KSC kept firing the long ball and it kept burning Eastern, widening the lead again, as Cooper connected on the next trip to make it 49-40 and
Liam Johnston made one of his own with 13:34 to go to make it 54-42.
Isaac Ogutuga and Johnston connected from deep within a minute of each other for a game-high 16-point edge (60-44) halfway through the half and the Owls were on their way at that point to moving over .500 at home this season (4-3) and winning consecutive league games on their home court after beating the University of Southern Maine 96-75 last Saturday.
KSC's defense limited the Warriors to just 51 points over the game's opening 35 minutes and held them to a season-worst 36.5 percent shooting effort from the field. The Owls also were plus-11 (38-27) on the glass and had eight blocks with LEC blocks leader (by 32)
Denis Wainaina swatting six more. Wainaina is among the top four in Division III in blocks per game. ECSU leading scorers Sanchez and Jalen Hamblin were limited to just an 8-for-26 effort from the floor.
Cooper has been sizzling over his last five games – averaging 25 points per game on nearly 50 percent shooting from three – and finished with 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting tonight to go along with three steals. Shettles (4-7 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 4-4 FT) added 14 points and seven boards, while
Ryan Blakey had an impressive 11-point effort on the bench, making 3-of-6 from three while adding six rebounds and five assists. Johnston (2-3 3-PT) had eight big points in a reserve role as KSC's contingent was plus-eight (30-22) on Eastern's bench.
Dominick Dao paced the Warriors with 18 points, nine of which came on three treys late in the second half. Ray Carter (5-12 FG, 4-7 3-PT) added 14 points and Sanchez 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The win keeps the Owls within a game of first place in a conference race that gets tighter by the day, with six teams having lost twice in league play to trail league-leading University of Massachusetts-Boston (4-1 LEC) by one in the loss column. Eastern's skid hit three with the loss tonight, as they were coming off home losses to UMB (83-79) and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (94-82). The Warriors' league win was a five-point December victory at Western Connecticut State University, who won on the road at UMB 98-70 in their last action Tuesday and hammed KSC's next opponent, Rhode Island College, 91-68 tonight in Danbury. UMass-Boston blitzed short-handed Dartmouth 90-72 on the road tonight while Plymouth State won at Vermont State University Castleton 83-75 with a 61-point second half after trailing by 10 at the break.
KSC's matchup with the Anchormen (7-6, 3-2 LEC) in Providence will tip off at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday (January 10). RIC has dropped three straight. Eastern Connecticut visits Plymouth (6-7, 2-2 LEC) the same day.
