It’s been a roller coaster season for the young Keene State College men’s basketball team, however the Owls said they have not and will not wave the white flag on the season.

According to Head Coach Rob Colbert, the Owls are not giving up on this season.

“We are not by any means putting this year past us. This group has a lot of nice pieces to it. I think we’ve re-established a certain approach which has been really good,” Colbert said.

Even though Colbert is disappointed, he sees a lot of potential and the Owls are making a run at the Little Eastern Conference title.

“I’m a little disappointed with where we’re at, I think we have the potential to play a lot better,” Colbert said.

One aspect the Owls need to improve on is the defensive side of the game.

Brian Cantore / Photo Editor:
Sophomore guard Tre Tipton drives to the rim in a home game against U-Mass Boston on Saturday, January 25 in the Spaulding Gymnasium.

“We need some guys to step up a little bit, but mostly on the defensive end I’m very frustrated with our inability to get stops,” Colbert said.

The coach said his team continued to fight after their 0-5 start to the season and the players are getting even better with the challenges this season.

“They keep fighting and they kept getting better, then we’re able to put some wins together and get a little positive momentum together, but I was definitely proud of the way they handled it [the losing streak].”

Freshman forward Nick Fragola said after the losing streak the team got together to get back on track. “We just kind of got together at some point and talked it over and got back on the horse and worked hard at practice.”

Colbert has noticed the Owls’ efforts as he said the Owls have improved the most during practice. “I think we’ve learned to compete everyday in practice. I think our practice approach has been our biggest area of growth.”

This season the Owls have also been plagued by injuries.

However, the coaching staff is not making that an excuse for the roller coaster season.

“Our job is to find solutions, not to mourn injuries or departures. It’s been a challenge,” Colbert said.

Fragola was among the injured in the beginning of the season with a stress fracture. However, he has recovered and is back to playing.

The injury bug has been so bad that Fragola said during one game this season, multiple players were out. “Four kids sat out and it’s been tough, we didn’t have enough subs to get people in and out,” Fragola said.

One positive this season for the Owls has been the breakout year for sophomore center Nate Howard, as of January 24, Howard is averaging 13 points and a little over 12 rebounds per game.

“This is the kid we recruited, he is getting much more comfortable at the speed of the game and the physicality of the game at the college level.  This is the kid we saw in high school,” Colbert said.

This year, Howard also had a career high 27 points in a loss to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Howard explained that during the game, he wasn’t thinking about the career high.

“I saw it on the scoreboard, how many [points] I had. I wasn’t thinking about it. I was trying to get shots so my team could win,” Howard said.

Senior Sean Walker has noticed a difference in Howard’s play from last year.

“He is getting more physical this year,” Walker said.  “He is attacking the basketball more, we just have to keep looking for him and he’ll do good at the end of the season.”

The team is keeping a positive attitude heading into the final games of the season.

Fragola said it is critical for the team to have this uplifting energy.

“We need to come into every game thinking we’re going to win against the toughest team in the league,” Fragola said.

“If we do that, hopefully we can come up with an LEC Championship.”

The coaching staff for the Owls is also very optimistic.

At the time of the interview, with ten games left in the season, Colbert said, “Ten games to go, we’re gonna make a run at this.”

Brian Clemmenson can be contacted at bclemmenson@keene-equinox.com