Middlebury College
The men’s basketball team suffered their first loss in four games Tuesday, Jan. 31 away at Middlebury College.
Ty Nichols led KSC with 22 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Jaquel Edwards also tallied up double-digits with 16 points, while Matthew Ozzella had 12 and Lucas Hammel with 11.
Edwards and Nichols both sank early three-pointers for a 6-3 lead in the beginning of the half.
The Panthers went on a 12-4 run and capped it with a layup for a 15-10 advantage.
Jacob Paquin/ Equinox Staff
Demonte Turner sank a pair of free throws, while Jeffrey Lunn added a layup which got the Owls within two (18-20). With 8:33 left in the first half, the Panthers scored 17 of the next 19 points, going up 37-22. The Panthers also scored the next seven points, giving them a 44-27 lead over the Owls at the half.
The Owls started the second half strong, maintaining a 12-2 run over the first five minutes of the half. Hammel made a layup, which brought the Owls within seven. The Panthers scored a double-digit lead on a three-point play, but the Owls didn’t give up. Nichols found Lunn for a layup at just less than 10 minutes left in the game, bringing the score to 65-52, Middlebury. Ozzella scored six points in just 26 seconds, finishing a three-point play. Then, Lunn stole the ball from Middlebury and passed it off to Ozzella. Ozzella hit a three to bring the score up 65-58, Middlebury, with 7:38 left on the clock.
Nichols hit his third three-pointer of the game with 2:26 left, as the Owls stayed behind the Panthers. The Owls could not get in reach of them.
University of Southern Maine
The Keene State Owls fell short to an LEC matchup against Southern Maine.
Ozzella was one of the leading scorers for the afternoon with 24 points and 10 rebounds, fellow senior Lunn also added 16 points and nine rebounds while Nichols had 14 points and three assists.
The Owls went to the position of the jump ball, and ran it to the basket. Lunn was able to get the Owls on the board first with a layup for two points. That was the only lead the Owls had over the Huskies for the entire game. The Huskies answered back with a three. They were leading by a bucket, 12-10. After the first five minutes of the game, University of Southern Maine (USM) went on a 10-2 run to have an early 10-point lead, 22-12 USM.
The Huskies held a steady lead for most of the first half and led by 12. With just 4:20 remaining in the first half, USM added a layup while the Owls only hit two baskets.
Ozzella and Lunn went back-to-back and brought the score 39-34, USM. The Huskies quickly regained possession and sank a jumper, bringing it to 14-37 at the half.
The Owls were unable to get on top of the Huskies trailing behind the entire time. A three from Jaquel Edwards brought the Owls within five. With 9:16 left on the clock, the Huskies outscored the Owls 11-4 over the next few minutes, giving the Huskies a greater lead, 73-6. USM outscored the Owls 17-10 in the last remaining minutes of the half. The Owls fell short 90-71.
The Owls will host a another LEC matchup against Plymouth State University, Wednesday Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Shelby Iava can be contacted at Siava@kscequinox.com