The Owls’ talons successfully grasped their third-straight Little East Conference (LEC) Championship title following a win over Western Connecticut State University (WestConn).
The two teams faced off on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Spaulding Gymnasium with the Owls soaring above the WestConn Wolves 84-68.
The game began with a fueled crowd and a mission to avenge themselves against WestConn, who defeated KSC during their Feb. 10 game.
Keene State had a 11-7 lead and executed a strong defense as eight of WestConn’s shots were blocked. The lead became 18-13 after senior Jeff Hunter’s layup and three minutes later became a 24-17 point lead for the Owls.
Although KSC did not score for 3:40, Hunter and senior Alonzo Linton swooped in to end the first half 31-26 with KSC in the lead.
The Owls sharpened their beaks for the second half as they went up 37-28 with 18 minutes remaining after free throws from senior Nate Siow.
WestConn trailed by a mere six points behind the Owls at the 16:13 mark. Another five points were put up by Siow and another three by junior Spencer Aronson. Hunter and junior Octavio Brito also teamed up to increase the score by 11.
Aronson drilled a three to make the score 59-43 followed by triples by Linton and senior Mason Jean Baptiste making the lead 73-53. The gap between KSC and WestConn was 22 points deep and The Owls claimed victory 84-68.
Hunter was named the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) for the second straight year and Brito set a career high with 17 rebounds.
This marks KSC’s seventh LEC Championship title and coach David Hastings was proud to bring the honor to Keene State once again.
“It was a very exciting weekend for the team, school and community of the City of Keene,” Hastings said. “Our guys played extremely well against the best level of competition the LEC has to offer. We look forward to hopefully hosting the NCAA tournament this coming weekend and playing to the best of our ability.” Keene State will be hosting the Divison III NCAA tournamen Friday, March 1.
Nicole Dumont can be contacted at
ndumont@kscequinox.com
