KEENE, N.H. – Head coach Steve Enright and the Keene State College men's basketball program are using the postseason appearance in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament to gain a longer look at their younger group as they begin preparations for the 2026-2027 season. One game in, so far so good, as the No. 2 seeded Owls hammered No. 7 seed University of Maine-Presque Isle 93-58 in a quarterfinal played at Spaulding Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
Highlights...coming soon
Postgame Interview (Coach Enright)
Postgame Interview (Gabe Marquis)
KSC (18-11), after seeing their Little East Conference championship and NCAA tournament appearances streak snapped last weekend, advances to the semifinal round on Sunday at Spaulding Gymnasium where they will take on No. 6 seed Rutgers University-Camden (14-11), who upset third-seeded McDaniel College 71-68 behind a 36-point effort on 13-of-17 shooting from Cameron Downs. The Scarlet Raptors (14-11), who were playing for the first time since February 18 after not qualifying for the New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament, shot nearly 61 percent as a team.
While the Owls did not have any 30-point efforts – spreading out at least 12 minutes to every active player – they had more than enough to cruise to their own win, never remotely threatened as they opened a 15-0 lead in less than four minutes with
Allyn Wright scoring seven points in 47 seconds before
Jordan Cooper and
Jordan McClain buried threes within 40 seconds of each other a short time later. Three minutes in, and a 13-0 lead.
Isaac Ogutuga made it 15-0 at the 16:45 mark, and a trey by
Gabe Marquis, who poured in a team-high 16 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep and 7-of-8 at the line in just 17 minutes, with 15:55 to go made it 18-3. The lead only kept expanding from there, as a Cooper three and layup by
Edric Louissaint made it 27-8 three minutes later before a layup with 8:46 to go in the half by Cooper made it 33-10. By the time the first half damage was done, KSC used a
Joe Fitzgerald jumper just ahead of the halftime buzzer to carry a 48-22 edge into the locker room.
Wright made 6-of-9 from the floor and both threes he attempted to score 14 points, while Cooper (3-7 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 5-6 FT, 5 reb., 4 asst., 3 stl.) and Louissaint (6-11 FG, 6 reb.) added 13 points apiece. Twelve different Owls scored on the day, and KSC also racked up 11 steals as a team while assisting on 18 of 32 made field goals and turning the ball over only eight times. Six Owls had multiple assists and KSC actually shot better in the second half, connecting at nearly 45 percent from the field. On the day from three, they finished 11-of-29 (37.9 percent).
Maine-Presque Isle (15-14), who made the championship of the North Atlantic Conference before falling to the University of Maine-Farmington (who authored a stunning 96-84 upset of tenth-ranked Montclair State University on the road last night), never made any dent in the second half as their postseason run came to an end. Wright buried a triple 3:34 into the second half to make it 56-28, and Marquis pushed the lead to 30 (63-33) with a trey at the 14:55 mark. Keene State led by as many as 39 with 8:29 left after layups on consecutive possessions from
Michael Coggins and Josh Williams.
The Owls were dominant in every statistical category, outscoring UMPI 36-14 in the paint, 19-5 off turnovers, 22-4 on fast breaks, and 54-22 from the bench.
Akhe McMichael paced UMPI with 20 points (6-14 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 6-8 FT), seven rebounds, and three blocks, but his team was held to 27.3 percent shooting for the game including a 7-for-33 mark in the final 20 minutes. Presque Isle was making their second consecutive ECAC appearance after a 20-win season in 2024-2025. They fell to Salisbury University 77-63 in the first round last year played at New Jersey City University, but nonetheless finished consecutive winning seasons for the first time in program history.
KSC, who with two more victories can reach 20 for a fifth consecutive season, and the Scarlet Raptors will tip off at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday – Daylight Savings Day – at Spaulding Gymnasium. It will mark the second consecutive first-time opponent for the Owls. The winner will advance to the ECAC championship game next Saturday (March 14) at a time and site to be determined.
