The Keene State College men’s Basketball team has gotten back on track after being hit by the injury bug in their last three conference games.
The Owls have won three games in a row in conference play as of January 27. KSC got back to their winning ways in the Little East Conference with a win against Rhode Island College at home.
The team then followed it up with a 78-71 win in overtime on January 20 against the Plymouth State University Panthers.
The Owls, playing without starters Lucas Hammel, Dizel Wright and Nate Howard, were able to grind out the win, getting contributions from a number of players.
Junior forward Matt Ozzella scored 13 points and had 15 rebounds for the Owls. It was a back and forth contest that featured 12 ties and 17 lead changes.
Luke Stergiou / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Ozzella said, “We’ve got everyone stepping up.” One player that Ozzella praised was Junior guard Jaquel Edwards, “Jaquel came out and had a huge game.” Edwards finished with 18 points, tying his career high.
Keene State Interim Head Coach Ryan Cain also praised Edwards. “He plugs away, he plays as hard as anyone does day in and day out,” Cain said.
Cain said he was pleased with his team’s effort and hopes they can apply what they did in their next contest.
“The effort in overtime was incredible and it was something to be proud of. Hopefully it is something we can build on without Nate Howard playing it’s a gritty win for our team,” Cain said.
Senior guard Nate Stitchell led all KSC scorers with 22 points. The Panthers were led by senior center Uche Nwokeji, who scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
On Saturday, January 23, the Owls defeated the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on the road 89-86 to sweep the season series.
The Owls held the LEC’s leading scorer Jordan Rezendes to 21 points.
In addition, the Owls had a solid offensive output with all five starters in double figures. Ozzella led the way with 23 points to lead all scorers in the contest and had 11 rebounds.
Also, Stitchell finished with 16 points and junior Jeff Lunn had 16 points as well.
The Owls will return home to Spaulding Gymnasium on Saturday, January 30, to take on the University of Massachusetts Boston at 3 p.m.
Brian can be contacted at bclemmenson@kscequinox.com