KEENE, N.H. – The second-seeded Keene State College men's basketball team survived two missed free throws by their season scoring leader and a potential game-winning three-point attempt by Eastern junior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) to advance to the championship game of the 2021 Little East Conference Tournament with an 80-79 victory over No. 3 Eastern Connecticut State University in a semifinal-round game Friday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.
 
Keene (6-2) advances to its sixth LEC tournament final in seven years – looking for its fourth title – against either No. 1 Massachusetts Dartmouth or No. 4 Rhode Island College. The date and time of that game is undetermined since the UMD-RIC semifinal was postponed Friday. Eastern (5-4) closed out the year unbeaten at home this year (5-0) but with nothing to show for its efforts on the road (0-4).
 
Keene senior center James Anozie – a 60 percent free throw shooter this year – canned the tying and winning free throws with 22 seconds left to break the eighth and final tie and Eastern missed two field goal attempts and Keene two free throws the rest of the way as the Owls avenged an 85-83 overtime loss at Eastern two nights ago. Keene had dumped Eastern by ten points when the teams met two weeks ago at Spaulding Gymnasium.
 
Although there were only two lead changes when the teams met earlier at Spaulding, there were 16 lead changes and 20 ties in Eastern's two-point overtime win Wednesday and 20 leads changes and eight ties this time. Keene led the majority of the game Friday but never y more than nine points.
 
Keene led by six points at half after outscoring the Warriors  16-5 over three minutes late in the first half to turn a five-point Eastern lead into a nine-point Keene advantage with two minutes left in the first half. Neither team led by more than four over the final 18 minutes,  Woods' only two free throw attempts of the game with 46 seconds left pushed Eastern into its seventh and final one-point lead of the half.
 
Anozie then followed with his two winning free throws after Eastern freshman AJ Edwards (New Haven) was slapped with his fifth foul of the game. First-year Keene State sophomore transfer forward Quinton Lott (Bridgeport) became the third Eastern player (second starter) to foul out with three seconds left, but Keene clanged both free throws. Senior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook), Eastern's second-leading rebounder and leading scorer, grabbed the rebound but Eastern's long game-winning attempt wouldn't go.
 
Woods, who averaged 3.2 points a year ago, led all players with a career-high 21 points, finishing in double figures in each of the final four games and for the sixth time this year. He was 8-for-14 from the floor and completed the year sinking his last ten free throws Muckle had 14 points and nine rebounds without a turnover in 38 minutes. Expected to return next year for his final season, Muckle ranks third all-time in three-pointers (237) and second in three-point attempts (659), 30 behind the leader in the former category and eight behind the leader in the latter. His point total Friday moved him into 21^st place all-time in career points (1,175), ahead of Hall of Famer Steve Plesz and also ahead of James Hunter.

After averaging 5.6 points and 6.5 rebounds through the first five games, Lott (15-10) ended the season with his third double-double in the last four games (missing a fourth double-double in that stretch by two points). He wraps up his first season at Eastern averaging 9.6 points and a team-high 9.6 rebounds in an average of 22 minutes. Junior guard Thomas Close (East Hampton), whose buzzer-beater sank Keene Wednesday, grabbed a career-high eight rebounds to help the Warriors to a slim +3 rebounding edge.
 
For the second consecutive game, Eastern bench players provided Eastern with a significant edge. Friday, four bench players combined for 35 points to give the Warriors a +20 advantage in that category. In Wednesday's win, the bench players also doubled Keene's output, 48-21.
 
After returning Wednesday against Keene after missing four games with an injury, junior forward Sharown Fowler (Springfield, MA) had eight points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench Friday.
 
In three games this year against Keene, Woods (18.3), Muckle (12.7) and Edwards (11.3) all averaged double figures, with Lott averaging 11 rebounds and Muckle 10.3. Woods shot 50 percent (7-for-14) from distance and Muckle 40 percent (6-for-15). Woods was 6-for-6 from the foul line, and Edwards 8-for-9.
 
Keene sophomore forward Jeff Hunter (19.0/14.3) averaged a double-double on 54 percent field goal shooting, and freshman guard Mason Jean Baptiste 17 points and Anozie 11.3 points and 8.7 rebounds.  
 
The two perennial LEC championship contenders combined to have 14 freshmen on their rosters this year and each started only one senior (Muckle and Anozie). The Owls also had three freshmen in their starting lineup.