Keene State Men’s Basketball fell 82-79 against the Tufts University Jumbos this past Sunday, Nov. 30.
Keene State entered the game with a record of 2-3, having a sluggishly slow start to the season, but was looking to continue a two-game win streak with a win over WPI the previous week. The Jumbos were coming in with a record of 4-2, looking to continue their four-game winning streak, with a win against MIT the previous week.
The first half of the game looked promising for the Owls, having scored 38 points compared to Tufts’ 31, maintaining a seven-point lead.
Notably, stand-outs for Keene State were sophomore center Denis Wainaina, who led the team in minutes played (17), points (10), and rebounds (5) within the first half. Another was senior guard Mitch Shettles, who contributed nine points to help Keene State end the half with the lead.
The second half did not go as well for the Owls. Early on, they were able to extend their lead within the first five minutes of the half, at one point having a ten-point lead (47-37) just three minutes into the half.
What can only be described as something akin to “letting the foot off the gas” occurred within this half, as Tufts began to make a comeback. A notable performance was by Tufts junior guard/forward Zion Watt, who led the team in minutes (18), rebounds (8) and was second in points (10) throughout the second half. Further, first-year guard Ricardo Nieves played the second most amount of time (16), and had the most points scored in the second half for Tufts (11).
Keene State made attempts to get back into the game after Tufts took off with the lead, but could not prevail in the end. The game ended 82-79 in Tufts’ favor.
With this loss, the Owls stand 2-4 in the overall season, slightly concerning considering the team is coming off a fourth straight Little East Conference Championship from the prior season.
The team will move on to play Vermont State University on Wednesday, Dec. 3, with a 7:30 p.m. start.
Nathan Eliopoulos can be contacted at
neliopoulos@kscequinox.com
