Box Score GORHAM, Maine – Senior Tom Doyle (Wallingford, Conn./Notre Dame) scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Keene State College Owls to a 84-65 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Keene State improves to 15-4 overall and 6-3 in the Little East. The loss drops Southern Maine to 4-15 overall and 1-8 in the Little East.
Doyle knocked down a quartet of three-pointers as part of a 22 point first half for the Owls, guiding KSC to a dominating 54-29 halftime lead. With Doyle taking the lead role, the Owls shot 57.1 percent (16-for-28) from the field in the opening stanza and a red-hot 62.5 percent (5-for-8) from three-point range. Junior Nate Howard (Cheshire, Conn.) added 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while sophomore Matt Ozzella (Medway, Mass.) tossed in 12 points.
Juniors Cole Libby (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and Jacob Littlefield (Mechanical Falls, Maine/Poland Regional) each scored 18 points to lead USM. Sophomore Fred Knight (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) added nine points and five rebounds.
The Huskies, who shot well in the first half at 44.0 percent (11-for-25), but were trumped by KSC's 17-for-18 effort from the free throw line and three-point shooting. The Huskies' were 5-for-9 from the charity stripe in the first half.
Facing a significant deficit in the second half, trailing by 62-32 early, Southern Maine scrapped its way back into a 13-point game with 5:23 to play. Down 68-43 with 11:54 to play after a jumper from sophomore Jaquel Edwards (Manchester, Conn.), Southern Maine strung together 16-6 run to fight its way back into the game. Libby scored nine of his 18 points in the run.
KSC's lead proved to be too much however, as the Owls answered back with five consecutive points to lead 79-61 with four to go. The Huskies never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
KSC finished the game shooting 52.7 percent (29-for-55) from the field and 91.3 percent (21-for-23) from the free throw line. Southern Maine shot 44.2 percent (23-for-52) from the floor and 71.4 percent (15-for-21) from the free throw line.
Southern Maine travels to Colby College on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) for a non-conference game. Keene State heads to Middlebury College for a non-conference game (7:00 p.m.) on Tuesday.
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