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Men's Basketball

Keene State Surges Past Southern Maine 74-67

Box Score
            KEENE, N.H.   – The University of Southern Maine Huskies men's basketball team rallied from 12-point, 47-35, second half deficit to pull to within a point of the Keene State College Owls, 57-56, with 7:47 to play, but could not pull off the upset in a 74-67 loss to the Owls in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gym.

            With the win, Keene State remains undefeated at 8-0 on the season and moves to 2-0 in the Little East.  Southern Maine dips to 3-5 with the loss and is still in search of its first conference win of the season at 0-2. 

            Senior Tom Doyle (Wallingford, Conn./Notre Dame) scored 19 points to lead four KSC players in double figures.  Junior Nate Howard (Cheshire, Conn.) added 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.  Sophomores Jaquel Edwards (Manchester, Conn.) and Matt Ozzella (Medway, Mass.) added 11 points.

            Junior Jacob Littlefield (Mechanic Falls, Maine/Poland) led all scored with 23 points for the Huskies.  Littlefield was 7-for-12 from the field, including 3-for-4 from the three-point arc.  Sophmores Fred Knight (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) and Zach Leal (York, Maine) each had 12 points, with Leal adding seven rebounds and five assists.  Junior Cole Libby (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) added eight points and grabbed a career and game-high 17 rebounds.

            Southern Maine fell behind the Owls from the first basket of the game and trailed by as many as 15 in the first half.  Behind by 13, 32-19, after a pair of Howard free throws, Southern Maine railed over the final 90 second of the half to make it a more manageable 33-26 deficit at the break.  Three different Huskies' scored in the 7-1 mini-run highlighted by a three from junior Jalen Lincoln (Nobleboro, Maine/Lincoln Academy).

            USM stayed with KSC in the second half and a jumper from Knight made it a 43-35 game with 16:30 to go, before the Owls used back-to-back baskets from freshman Dizel Wright (Springfield, Mass/Putnam) and Ozzella for a 47-35 advantage with 15:55 on the clock.

            After the back-to-back scores from the Owls, USM six straight points – on four points from Littlefield and a dunk from Leal - as part of a 21-10 run over the next eight minutes and eight seconds to trail 57-56.  Leal scored six of his 12 points in the run, while Littlefield scored nine.

            After Leal's two free throws to pull USM to within a point of the Owls, both teams squandered possessions, before Howard made a layup to give KSC a 59-56 lead with 6:10 remaining. USM's Knight counted with a layup of his own to again bring the Huskies to within a point, 59-58, but Edwards converted a traditional three-point play for a 62-58 lead with 5:34 on the clock.

            Southern Maine continued to battle and got within a possession of KSC on a layup from junior Aaron Toman (Gardiner, Maine) with 3:38 left, but the Owls converted down the stretch outscoring USM 10-5 in the final minutes for the win.

            Southern Maine is off for break and will return to action on Monday, December 29 (tba) vs Guilford College at the Catholic University Holiday Tournament.  Keene State returns to action on Wednesday, December 31 (5:00 p.m.) when it hosts Plattsburgh State.

-cac-

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