KEENE, N.H. – There were a number of points on Saturday when things did not look great for the Keene State College men's basketball team, such as when they trailed 16-2 out of the gate.  The Owls then steadied themselves, actually taking a halftime lead by a point, but then trailed by 13 with less than seven minutes to go.  From there, though, came one of the best wins of the season as KSC closed the game on a 29-12 run to pick up a big Little East Conference victory and season sweep of Western Connecticut State University 84-80 on Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.

The win keeps the Owls (13-10, 9-5 LEC) right in the mix toward the top of the standings and brings them within one game of second-place WestConn (17-6, 10-4 LEC) and a half game of third-place University of Southern Maine (15-9, 10-5 LEC) – both teams KSC swept this season and would have the tiebreaker over – with two games to go.  The Owls close the regular season this week with a road game against Eastern Connecticut State University and a home game against Rhode Island College on Senior Day Saturday.  In order to clinch at least second place, KSC would need to win both games and have WestConn lose either at RIC or home against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth – both teams playing for their playoff life.  The Owls clinched a playoff spot today, and with one more win will guarantee at least one home playoff game of some kind.

For much of the day, it seemed like KSC's playoff seeding might be in more peril as they opened by missing eight of their first nine shots to fall into a 16-2 deficit less than eight minutes in.  WestConn started 7-of-8 from the field, but the roles completely flipped over the final 11:14 as the Owls limited the Wolves to just 5-for-17 shooting with nine turnovers in a prolonged 26-11 surge to give KSC a 28-27 lead at the break despite just eight field goals and 33 percent shooting.  Jordan Cooper and Mitch Shettles combined for 21 of the Owls' 28 points on 5-for-11 shooting from three in the opening 20 minutes.

What began as a rock fight suddenly turned into an offensive battle as the teams combined for 43 points in the opening 6:44, with Denis Wainaina canning two free throws to tie it at 49 with 13:16 left.  The Wolves seemingly took complete command again over the next six minutes, though, using an 11-0 burst in 2:40 to take a double-digit lead again (60-49) at the 10:09 mark.  KSC trimmed it to seven on a three by Cooper a minute later, but WestConn answered with six more points in a row to go up 66-53 on Tayejon Lynch's layup with 8:10 left.  Marcel Henry's paint layup with seven minutes to go still had the visitors up 13, with WestConn aiming to maintain control of their own destiny for the top seed in the Little East Conference, which they had entering the day even with the University of Massachusetts-Boston in the loss column with a season sweep of the Beacons in their pocket.

That is until they were hit with some vintage Spaulding magic – a place WestConn is 9-27 at all-time including losing each of the last three Little East Conference championship games in Keene.
It all began innocuously enough, as Shettles misfired on a three, but Liam Johnston astutely tipped the ball back out to Jordan Cooper for a triple that he drained to make it 68-58 with 6:39 left.  A dunk and two free throws for the Owl standout a minute and a half later had the deficit suddenly to five (69-64), and KSC kept answering, with Cooper canning a tough pull up jumper with 4:42 left to respond to two Henry free throws to make it 71-66.  Leo Chaikin was 2-for-2 at the line and Wainaina 1-for-2 in the ensuing two minutes to get within four (73-69), and after a 1-for-2 WestConn trip to the charity stripe, Chaikin's layup with 2:09 to go made it a one-possession game (74-71).  KSC's defense continued to bother the Wolves immensely late, as the Owls forced a Henry miss as Johnston might have gotten a piece of the shot, and the Keene native then buried a triple on the other end.  Just like that – tie game at 74 with 1:37 on the clock.  Wainaina then helped alter Nick Boyce's shot on the other end and Johnston grabbed the board for a transition chance, finding Cooper who passed to Chaikin streaking to the basket.  He missed the initial layup, but Wainaina was there to grab the rebound and give KSC a 76-74 lead with 1:15 left.  Henry then made only one of two at the line on the next WestConn possession to give the Owls the ball and the lead with less than a minute to go.  Keene State broke the Wolves' pressure to create a 3-on-1 chance.  Allyn Wright found Chaikin up the middle of the floor into the paint, who passed off to Johnston behind the three-point arc.  Johnston faked the three and passed inside to Wainaina for a wide-open slam with 55.3 remaining to for a 78-75 lead.  Wright then suffocated Lynch near half court on the ensuing possession and helped force a turnover, finding Johnston surging toward the basket for a layup and an 80-75 edge with 43.4 left.

All told, it was a Valentine's Day win to remember, as KSC ripped off a 25-7 surge in a 5:54 span to go from down 13 to up five – making nine of their 15 shots from the field while holding WestConn to just 1-of-8 and forcing three turnovers, none bigger than the last.

The Wolves stayed alive when Lynch made all three free throws after Johnston was called for a foul on a three-point attempt and then forced a turnover, but Wright rebounded a miss by Lynch and then made two big free throws with 33 ticks left to make it 82-78.  KSC forced a miss on the next possession, but turned the ball over as the clock ticked toward 10 seconds in a four-point game.  Boyce missed a long three, but Avery Taitt-Christina put in an uncontested second-chance basket with three seconds left to force KSC to make free throws.  Chaikin did just that, going 2-for-2, to salt away a bounce-back victory for the Owls, who have now won seven of their last nine and are 8-3 on their home court.

It was also a memorable afternoon for Wainaina, whose three blocks helped him become the new Keene State men's basketball single-season blocks leader with 85, surpassing Jeff Hunter's 83 from 2022-2023.  The mark is also one off from tying Division III leader Tyler Smith (Crown College), who has 86.

Cooper finished with 30 points for the third time this season, shooting 10-of-19 overall while adding six rebounds, five steals, and four assists.  Chaikin added 14 points (3-7 FG, 8-8 FT) and Shettles 13 (4-10 3-PT) off the bench.  Johnston came up big late, finishing with eight points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.

Lynch (8-14 FG) and Henry (8-16 FG) paced WestConn with 22 and 21 points, respectively, but the rest of the team was held to 37.

KSC finished 17-for-20 (85 percent) from the free throw line in the second half while the Wolves were 17-for-23.  WestConn shot 51 percent after the break but attempted only one three in the final 20 minutes and missed.  KSC outscored the Wolves 30-6 from deep, finishing 10-for-30 while WCSU was 2-for-9. 

WestConn lost for just the second time since December 11, having won 14 of their last 16 – with both losses coming against KSC.  The Owls had limited WestConn to just 59 points in a 63-59 victory in Danbury last month.

The final week of the regular season is upon us, with the Owls' matchup at Eastern Connecticut (15-8, 7-7 LEC) on Wednesday tipping off at 7:00 p.m.  The Warriors beat last-place Vermont State University Castleton 78-62 today and are currently in fifth place.  KSC beat Eastern at Spaulding Gymnasium 79-72 in early January.