GORHAM, Maine – Octavio Brito had 23 points, nine rebounds, and five assists to lead five players in double-figures as the No. 9 Keene State College Owls defeated the University of Southern Maine Huskies 91-64 in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.
Shooting an outstanding 10-for-13 in the game, Brito scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half as the Owls outscored USM 56-34 to pull away in the game after leading 35-30 at the half. Jeff Hunter had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, adding four assists. Spencer Aronson added 15 points, while Mason Jean Baptiste went 4-for-6 for 14 points. Alonzo Linton added 10 points off of the bench.
Southern Maine sophomore
Tommy Whelan (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) led the Huskies with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting, while senior
Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine/Hermon) had 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for his first double-double of the season. Senior
Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) and freshman
Brady Saunders (Brewer, Maine) each had seven points.
The Records:
No. 9 Keene State (15-2, 9-0 Little East)
Southern Maine (9-8, 5-4 Little East)
Today's game marked the 117
th meeting between the No. 9 Keene State College Owls and the University of Southern Maine Huskies. Keene State leads the overall series 71-45, and the Owls have won the last five games consecutively. KSC defeated Southern Maine 94-80 on December 2, 2023 in the first game of the 2023-2024 series.
How It Happened:
- In a closely played first half, Whelan had the Huskies up 26-25 with 5:13 to go until the half before the Owls used a 10-4 run to close out the first with a 35-30 lead. Hunter had six of the Owls 10 in the run, while Brito had four. Whelan had 11 first-half points to pace the Huskies, while Hawes had nine.
- The Owls scored the first five points of the second half on a jumper from Brito and a three from Jean Baptiste, and outscored Southern Maine 18-7 in the opening six minutes of the second half to take a 53-37 lead with 14:10 remaining in the game.
- A three from Whelan at 11:42 had the Huskies trailing 57-44 before the Owls ran off 10 unanswered points, including back-to-back threes from Jean Baptiste for a commanding 67-44 lead with just over 10 minutes left in regulation.
- A layup from Hawes at 9:58 broke up the Owls' run, but KSC outscored the Huskies 15-6 over the next five minutes to lead 82-52. The Huskies never got closer than 24 points the rest of the way for the 91-64 final.
Inside The Stats:
- Hawes' double-double is the seventh of his career. His three assists in today's game puts him over the 300 mark in his career. Hawes is sitting at 867 points, 554 rebounds, 301 assists and 113 steals in his career.
- Led by Linton's 10 points, KSC's bench outscored USM's 23-9. Junior Juneau Anicette (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips) had six points to lead the Huskies.
Up Next:
The Huskies are the road for its next two LEC contests after KSC, traveling to Rhode Island College on Wednesday, January 24 (7:30 pm) and Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday, January 27 (3:00 pm).
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