For the 2023-2024 season, Keene State’s Men’s and Women’s basketball programs are both ranked high in the conference polls for the season.
The Keene Men’s basketball team is ranked first in the Little East Conference and is ranked seventh in the NCAA tournament.
The team won the LEC conference last year, beating Western Connecticut in overtime with a score of 83-79.
Last year the men’s team made it to the sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.
Currently, the 2023-2024 team has a record of 5-1 with a win streak of four.
Men’s basketball at Keene just created history by beating the record from 2000 for most points scored in a game with a score of 119-81 against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Top players throughout the season have been fifth-year Jeff Hunter and junior Octavio Brito.
According to the statistics, six games in, Hunter was able to get a new career high for points in one game, with 32 points. He has a total of 116 points throughout the season so far. Hunter also accomplished his 29th double double in the last 34 games. The LEC league office named Hunter the player of the week two times as well.
Brito also put many points on the board. He was able to achieve 42 points in 2 games. Brito currently has a total of 109 points for this season.
Brito and Hunter were named the Small College Basketball Champions from the Classic All-Tournament Team, according to the LEC league office.
The 2023-2024 Women’s Basketball team started their season off with awin for the first game of the season. Their current record is 4-2 with a win streak of three.
Similarly, they put up the highest amount of points in one game on Nov. 28, with 98 points against Vermont State Johnson, beating their record from 2014.
The team is ranked third in the Little East Conference. Last year, the team lost in the quarter-finals of the LEC tournament against UMass-Dartmouth with a score of 59-37. The top players throughout the season for the Women’s Basketball team have been firstyear Brynn Ratiola and junior Samantha Lee. According to the statistics, Rautiola put up multiple points each game. Four games into her first season, she scored her career-best, with 27 points in one game. She has a total of 102 points for the season so far. Rautiola was also named the player of the week two times throughout the season.
Lee put up several points each game this season. In a recent game against Worcester State, Lee had a double-double which helped the team defeat Worcester State 58-48. During the game against Vermont State Johnson, which was their highest-scoring game, Lee put up 15 points and 8-13 field goals. The Men’s Basketball team has their next game on Saturday Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. against Tufts. The Women’s Basketball team has their next game on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 1 p.m. against Maine Maritime. Both games are held in the Keene State Spaulding Gymnasium and they are out-of-conference games.
Elyse Picard can be contacted at
epicard@kscequinox.com
