Box Score
KEENE, N.H. – Eastern Connecticut State University's conference-leading three-point defense was no match for Keene State College's diversified three-point attack as the four-time defending Little East Conference champion Owls never trailed after scoring the first 12 points of the game in a 79-72 men's basketball verdict Thursday evening at Spaulding Gymasium.
 
In a game that was not as close as the final score might indicate, Keene (6-7, 3-2 LEC),  shot just under 50 percent from three-point range against an Eastern (9-4, 1-3 LEC) defense that had been relegating its opponents to less than 30 percent from distance.
 
Eastern missed its first seven shots from the floor and turned the ball over once on its first eight possessions to sink into a quick 12-0 hole, but outscored the Owls by four the rest of the half, cutting a 14-point margin to eight at the break after Keene missed its final five shots and committed a turnover on its final six possessions.
 
The Warriors, who have lost three straight (in six days) after a 9-1 start, battled back in the second half, slicing the deficit to five on several occasions before Keene regained the momentum with a 17-6 scoring burst that put them in front by 16, 60-44, midway through the second half.
 
Leading by that five-point, Keene's next five field goals came from three-point range – with four different players contributing a basket from distance.
 
Managing only three-point field goals over the first 33 minutes, Eastern finally got its three-point game in gear, with 21 of its final 24 points coming from distance. The three-point outburst pulled Eastern as close as seven in the final minute, but Keene's free-throw shooting (seven of its final nine points came from the stripe) kept the Warriors from cutting any deeper into its lead.
 
While Eastern scored only three less points from distance in the game, the Warriors hoisted eight more shots than the Owls from beyond the arc. Eastern shot 32.3 percent from distance, Keene 47.8 percent.
 
Six different players contributed a three-point field goal for Keene. Junior guard Jordan Cooper led the Owls with 22 points, senior Coast Guard Academy transfer guard Mitch Shettles adding 14 points – 11 in the second half – and seven rebounds, with  senior guard Ryan Blakey chipping in 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. In his first start of the year, six-foot-8 inch sophomore center Kareem Porter helped Keene to a +11 advantage on the boards with a game-high 11.
 
Six-foot-ten inch Keene sophomore Denis Wainaina added six blocks to his LEC-leading total but the Warriors held him scoreless from the floor and to only three rebounds in 29 minutes.
 
Eastern senior guard Dominick Dao (Terryville) led Eastern with 18 points  -- nine of them coming on three three-point field goals in a span of three minutes late in the game.  Junior guard Ray Carter (Springfield, MA) followed with 14 points and junior forward Julian Sanchez (Willimantic) came off the bench for 12 points and ten rebounds (his third double-double in the last four games). Senior forward Jalen Hamblin (West Hartford) had nine points and seven rebounds and senior guard Michael Carothers (Queens, NY) seven assists.
 
Coming off a rare (two-point) loss at state and conference arch-rival Plymouth State University Tuesday, Keene turned things around quickly against Eastern, racing to a 12-0 lead before the first media timeout. While Eastern struggled out of the gate, the Owls got points from four different players in that quick opening burst, with Cooper following an inside basket with a three-pointer, and Blakey sinking his first of three three-point field to close out the early scoring run just four minutes into action.
 
The loss is Eastern's ninth straight against Keene and eighth in a row at Spaulding Gymnasium.
 
Eastern visits Plymouth State (6-7, 2-2 LEC) Saturday at 2 p.m. in a Little East contest, hoping to shake a three-game losing streak where its opponent is averaging 85 points per game and shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor and 77 percent from the foul line, where it has been awarded 30 more attempts than Eastern. The Warriors are 4-1 away from Geissler Gymnasium this year, Plymouth 2-3 at home.
 
Plymouth is coming off an 83-75 road win over VTSU Castleton Thursday night. The Warriors had a six-game winning streak snapped against the Panthers in a 65-57 loss in their last visit to Foley Gymnasium a year ago in the season-finale.