Sweet 16 

The Keene State Owls traveled to Babson College for their rematch against Christopher Newport University (CNU). However, the Owls did not have the same outcome as they did last year. The Owls trumped CNU 68-64 Friday, March 10.

Senior Jeffrey Lunn led the Owls with 20 points and eight rebounds. Fellow senior Matthew Ozzella had 14 points, senior Lucas Hammel had 15 and sophomore Ty Nichols had 11.

CNU had the upper hand early on. Marcus Carter, the junior All-American, sank a three for a 9-3 lead. Christopher Newport sank another three to increase their lead, 14-7.

Keene State kept up with CNU, getting within four, when Ozzella converted a three-point play with only 10 minutes remaining on the clock. Christopher Newport responded quickly and kept their lead 21-12.

Ozzella hit a pair of threes in two minutes. He also added a layup in-between, tying the game at 24. Christopher Newport had a 12-4 run over the remaining time in the half, giving them an eight-point lead.

Shelby Iava/ Sports Editor

CNU hit a fadeaway three to beat the shot clock, and Justin Hampton of CNU hit away Nichols’ layup at the sound of the buzzer with CNU on top 45-33.

Nichols converted a three-point play with 18 minutes left in the second half. CNU continued their lead with three baskets.

Keene State was able to get within five on Jimmy Layman’s jumper. CNU had an offensive foul against the Owls and Hammel stepped up to the line.

Hammel made both of the baskets and brought the Owls within three points. Jaquel Edwards made a basket with 10:43 left to bring the game within one.

Lunn hit two free throws with 9:46 left on the clock, giving the Owls their first lead of the entire game.

After that set of free throws, the game went cold, and there were no points scored until the 7:29 mark on the clock. Christopher Newport missed six straight free throws.

Lunn made two more free throws with 4:49 left on the clock. CNU answered quickly with a three from the right corner and tied the game at 58 with 4:30 left on the clock.

The Owls and the Captains went back and forth, but CNU was on top by one. Lunn managed to bring the Owls back on top, 62-62. Nichols made a basket with 31 seconds left for a 64-61 lead.

Hammel sank a pair of free throws, which put KSC up by five.

CNU missed a three, but grabbed a rebound and hit a fadeaway triple to cut the lead 66-64 with six seconds left on the clock. Nichols hit two free throws, securing the Owls’ win.

The Owls advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2004.

Elite Eight

The first half of the game was a constant back and forth battle between Keene State and Babson College. Both teams tied up the game at least five times.

With 6:22 left on the clock, the Babson Beavers received their biggest lead of the game with a 10-point advantage, 38-28, Babson.

Lunn grabbed back-to-back baskets, bringing the Owls within five.

Nichols converted a three-point play with .53 left on the clock shortening Babson’s lead to two. Babson responded with a three right before the sound of the buzzer at the half. Babson was up 51-46.

The Owls would only come as close as seven in the second half, 69-62, after a layup from Lunn. Babson ignited an 18-4 run to pull away from the Owls.

The Owls got no closer than 17 points the rest of the game. Nichols sank a three with 3:10 left to go.

Nichols led the Owls with 21 points, while Lunn had 14 points and six rebounds. Hammel chipped in  17 points and Ozzella had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Ozzella became the fifth player in school history to have over 1,200 points and 700 rebounds in his career, joining Tyler Kathan, Dave Terry, Al Hicks and Chris Coates.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

The Keene State College women’s basketball team fell to the University of Rochester, 67-55, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Sandi Purcell led the Owls with 21 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Stephanie D’Annolfo had her eighth double-double of the season with 24 points and 16 rebounds, which tied her career-high. She also had four assists and three blocks. Amanda Petrow added six points and 11 rebounds.

The Owls came out of the first quarter strong with a 5-0 lead, 5:02 remaining on the clock off a three from Purcell and a basket from Petrow. Rochester responded with a 10-5 lead after they converted a three-point play with just three minutes left on the clock. In the remaining 1:35, Lydia Vital grabbed the rebound and ran the ball down the court, sending the ball to Emily McPadden and sank a three to tie the game at 10.

Shelby Iava/ Sports Editor

The Owls hit the first basket of the second quarter. D’Annolfo’s layup made it a one-point game. Rochester converted two free throws for a three-point lead, but D’Annolfo added one more for the Owls. The Yellowjackets scored six unanswered points to gain a 21-14 lead with five minutes to go before the half. Keene State had two free throws to cut the lead to five. Purcell hit a three from beyond the arc to bring the Owls within two. Rochester continued to extend their lead to six, before the Owls could score back-to-back layups, making it 25-23. The Yellowjackets ended the half with a jumper to make it 27-23, Rochester,

D’Annolfo sank two free throws to shorten the gap to two in the beginning of the third. Rochester responded quickly with a 9-0 run. Purcell stopped the run with a three, but the Yellowjackets were able to maintain their lead as the Owls went into the final quarter 49-38, Rochester. Rochester kept sending the ball to the basket as they hit two, extending their lead to 15. A layup from Petrow, a three from Purcell and a layup from D’Annolfo brought the Owls within eight, but they would not come any closer. Rochester extended their lead in the final minutes. The Owls fell  67-55.

The Owls hit the first basket of the second quarter and D’Annolfo’s layup made it a one-point game. Rochester converted two free throws for a three-point lead, but D’Annolfo added one more for the Owls. The Yellowjackets scored six unanswered points to gain a 21-14 lead with five minutes to go before the half. Keene State had two free throws to cut the lead to five.

Purcell hit a three from beyond the arc to bring the Owls within two. Rochester continued to extend their lead to six before the Owls could score back-to-back layups, making it 25-23. The Yellowjackets ended the half with a jumper to make it 27-23, Rochester. D’Annolfo sank two free throws to shorten the gap to two in the beginning of the third.

Rochester responded quickly with a 9-0 run. Purcell stopped the run with a three, but the Yellowjackets were able to maintain their lead, as the Owls went into the final quarter 49-38, Rochester. Rochester kept sending the ball to the basket as they hit two, extending their lead to 15.

A layup from Petrow, a three from Purcell and a layup from D’Annolfo brought the Owls within eight, but would not come any closer. Rochester extended their lead in the final minutes. The Owls fell 67-55.

The Keene State women’s basketball team finished out their historic season 21-8, all while caputuring their first ever Little East Conference title.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

A nine-year-old Keene State record was broken when Nicole De Almeida, Brittany Gravallese, Katelyn and Lindsey Terry crossed the finish line of the 4×200 relay at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). The foursome’s time on Ithaca’s flat track was 1:48:44, which converts to 1:46.79 on a banked track using the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) standard distance conversion between indoor flat and banked tracks.

The original time in 2008 was previously set by a 4×220 yard relay team in a time of 1:48.07 on Harvard’s banked 220 yard oval, which is equivalent to a 4×200 meter relay time of 1:47.45 on a banked track.

All seven of the Owls who competed at the ECAC earned All-ECAC honors in individual and/or relay events. K. Terry finished off her indoor season in the 400 meter dash, finishing in seventh place with a time of 58.88 and received All-ECAC honors. She was also named the Little East Conference (LEC) Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year after her performance from her indoor season.

Alyssa Lombardi ran her final 1,000 meter run. She finished with a time of 3:14.26, landing her in 17th place overall.  Sophomore Jared Hannon earned a personal best in the long jump with 6.69 meters and took eighth place. His jump also earned him All-ECAC honors.  Returning to the track, in a different order, L. Terry, De Almeida, Gravallese and K. Terry ran the fastest flat-track 4x400m of the season at 4:01.06. They earned third place overall and All-ECAC accolades.

For their last race, L. Terry and K. Terry teamed up with Lombardi and first-year Lynne Hebert in the 4×800 meter relay. They recorded a season-best time of 9:46.31, placing them in sixth with All-ECAC honors.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

Round I

With two and half seconds left on the clock, Ty Nichols sank a three-point shot and the Owls advanced to the next round of the NCAA tournament.

Amherst College’s Jayde Dawson missed a 10-foot shot, but KSC’s Matthew Ozzella grabbed the board and found Nichols. Nichols dribbled it the length of the court before hitting the three just as time ran out. Nichols had 19 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Ozzella had 20 points and 16 rebounds, while Jeffrey Lunn had 13 points and seven rebounds.

Contributing photo

Both teams went back and forth throughout the entire game, and no team had a lead greater than six.

Lucas Hammel took a pair of free throws, giving the Owls the upper hand, 11-9. Amherst took over in the end of the first half, scoring nine straight points, giving them the lead 25-22. They also made consecutive threes, pulling away from the Owls, 35-31.

KSC’s Jake Collagan found the ball and hit a quick three, putting them on top of Amherst, 32-31. With seven seconds left in the first half, Amherst hit the net, giving them a two-point advantage, but Nichols knocked in a three just before the sound of the buzzer went off, 35-33, KSC.

Amherst came out strong in the second half going on an 8-2 run, giving them the lead, 41-37. Amherst continued to bring it and sank another three, increasing the lead 48-44 with 12:15 remaining. Nichols converted another three-point play on the Owls’ next possession. Every chance Amherst had to pull away, the Owls were trailing right behind them. Two layups from Amherst  gave them a four-point advantage over Keene State, but Ozzella hit five straight points, including a three with 7:26 left in the game, tying it at 56. Ozzella scored again to grab the lead with 5:49 left on the clock.

The two teams continued to shoot back and forth baskets in the last five minutes of the game. Amherst tied the game at 61 with a three-point shot. They continued to excel with a dunk and a free throw, giving them a 64-61 lead. KSC responded right back, gaining a free throw from Ozzella and two more from Hammel to tie the score up yet again. Amherst’s jumper and then two more from Hammel tied the score gain at 66. With just seconds before the buzzer, Nichols’ three would end the game and move them on in the tournament. The Owls played the following day, March 4, against Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Round II

Collagan hit a three-point shot with 45 seconds left to go on the clock, as Keene State College’s men’s basketball team upset Ramapo College and continued on to the Sweet 16.

Jacob Paquin/ Equinox Staff

With three starters fouling out, the Owls survived Ramapo College and continued on to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row and the fourth time in school history.

Nichols scored a career-high of 32 points, with seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Ozzella added 22 points and 12 boards. Jaquel Edwards had 16 points and Jimmy Layman came off the bench with eight rebounds.

Ramapo came out of the first half strong, having an 8-0 lead. Keene State quickly reacted with an 18-2 run.

A pair of free throws from Ozzella continued to lead the Owls 18-12 with 13:32 left in the half. Ramapo responded just as quick, outscoring the Owls 16-6. Ramapo continued their shots and took a 37-32 lead at the half.

Ramapo continued to increase their lead, pulling away from the Owls. With back-to-back baskets and a pair of free throws, Ramapo was up 51-40 with 14:27 left on the clock. Layman sank a three, igniting the Owls.

Edwards hit a three-pointer of his own, and Ozzella converted a three-point play before hitting a three of his own as well. With less than three minutes to go in the game, the Owls cut the lead to just one. Edwards pushed the Owls into overtime with a layup that fell through the net with just .02 seconds left on the clock.

An extra five minutes was added to the clock for overtime. Ramapo opened up with two three-point shots, giving them the lead, 91-89, just before Nichols and Collagan ended the game.

Nichols fed the ball to Collagan as he sank his second field goal of the game with 45.6 seconds left in OT.

Ramapo missed two shots in the last 30 seconds, while Nichols grabbed the final rebound of the game.

Keene State will match up against the No. 2 Christopher Newport University Friday, March 10 at Babson College.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

This is the second year in a row that Keene State College Athletics has done “The Giving Challenge.” The giving challenge is sponsored by the Fenton Family Dealership and donated $2,000  toward athletics. This money will be distributed equally amongst each team. Athletic Director Dr. Kristene Kelly said in essence, they’re trying to raise money for all of the different teams. “For equipment, supplies, travel, uniforms, you name it, but really it’s more so for us to engage our new donor base. From our Alumni, particularly using our alumni and trying to engage them a lot more, as well as trying to engage some new donors just so they keep Keene State fresh on the brain,” Kelly said. 

The donations that have been made are 4 percent students, 35 percent alumni, 15 percent parents, 25 percent friends and 14 percent faculty and staff. “The 25 percent of friends really excites me because those are people who are not Keene State alumni, faculty, staff, or students and the fact that they are giving means that our name is really being put out there,” Kelly said.

Each team and Fenton Family has given $2,000. “It was supposed to be teams competing against each other, but we decided against that and we’re just going to take the $2,000 and spread it amongst each team, but Fenton Family donated $2,000 toward that challenge,“ Kelly said.

Kelly said that their end goal is more about the donor, so it’s more about the amount of people who are donating to the cause rather than the money itself.

The Keene State community, friends and family had 28 days to raise money “because February is the shortest month of the year, so we didn’t have the full 30 days and our teams have really rallied behind. Men’s lacrosse right now is [at] 106 donors and we’ve kind of based it more on donors,” Kelly said.

Kelly went on to discuss the end goal.

“I am very optimistic, and our end goal is $30,000. Right now, we’re at $24,305 and we have two days left. Our goal was 500 donors and we’re at 531, so we’ve hit our goal, but I don’t want to just meet goals, I want to exceed them. I want to smash our goals. So hopefully we get to $30,000. I will be fine with $25,000, but I really want to get to $30,000. “

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

The men’s lacrosse team kicked off their season in a game against Western New England University on Feb. 21. The Owls outscored the Bears in the third quarter, leading them to the win, 16-13.

Senior midfielder Tyler Reilly said the game went really well. “Western New England is always a solid team and has become a bit of a rival of ours since I got here [in 2013],” Reilly said.

Tim Smith/ Photo Editor

The team started off a little slow he said, “but we were able to settle in and put the pieces together to start scoring goals. If you look at the stat lines, the spread of scoring was pretty well-distributed, which I think says a lot about the depth and talent of our team and, of course, our entire defense and goalie,” Reilly said.

Matt Howe is a returning goalie, who Reilly talked highly about. “I can’t say enough about the job they did throughout that game. I think our goals are set pretty high this year,” Reilly said.

The Keene State men’s lacrosse team has been putting up big wins the past few years against 20 teams, but have failed to push deep into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament, Reilly said. “So I think our mindset is to get over that hump this year, especially with such a senior-heavy class, but that all starts with winning one game at a time, especially early on this time of year. I think the biggest hump for us to accomplish that is to just stay healthy and consistent on both sides of the ball. It’s a long season and we got to make sure we show up to every practice and game to get better,” he said.

The men traveled to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) for a non-conference game on Saturday, Feb. 26. The Owls fell 17-10. Seniors Robert Hart and Bryan Rotatori led the Owls. Hart had a hat trick and Rotatori had two goals, two assists and five ground balls. Junior Frank Bacarella added two and fellow junior Hunter Arnold added one.

The Owls were the first to get on the board with back-to-back goals from Bacarella and Paul Beling before RPI answered back with two goals of their own. Keene State fought back with three straight goals to make it 5-3 in the second quarter. RPI then went on a four-goal streak, pushing past the Owls 7-5.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

The Keene State men’s basketball team fell just two points short of a three-peat. Eastern Connecticut State University took the Little East Conference championship title on Feb. 25 on their home turf. The Owls fell 70-72.

Senior Jeffrey Lunn led the Owls with 18 points and six rebounds, while fellow senior Matthew Ozzella had 15 points and nine rebounds. First-year Jake Collagan sank 13 and Ty Nichols had 11.

Jacob Paquin/ Equinox Staff

The Owls started off strong with an early lead, 12-6. Nichols and senior Lucas Hammel nailed a pair of three-point shots. Collagan also hit a three at 10:43, which just pushed the Owls further in front, 19-14. The Owls continued to widen their lead as Lunn scored inside back-to-back possessions, 29-16 with seven minutes left in the half.

Eastern’s Carlos Gonzalez finished 8-for-12 from the field and sank a pair of threes with just about five minutes left in the half. Eastern cut the lead 32-27, but the Owls wouldn’t let them take the lead. The Owls ended the half 42-33.

Keene State managed to stay on top in the beginning of the second half. Ozzella’s had a break  away and hit a three with 12:32 left in the last half, pushing the Owls further, 54-41. The Warrior’s then sparked and outscored the Owls 20-7. The Owls answered back with the next six straight points, keeping the lead to six points, 69-63 KSC.

With the last four minutes of the game, Gonzalez led the Warriors to victory. He made three free throws, while Hugh Lindo hit a layup, bringing them within one. Jaquel Edwards tied the game at 70, but Gonzalez’s reverse layup ended the game with nine seconds left.

Keene State will have a second chance, they have received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Keene State will play Amherst on Friday, Mar. 3 in New Jersey. Eastern will receive the LEC automatic bid, and will also be playing MIT… David Munch of D3sports.com said, “We don’t have the usual game, we have more of a creative game.”

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

For the second year in a row, the Keene State College men’s club ice hockey team will head to the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) national tournament. On Sunday, Feb. 26, the Owls topped Northeastern University (NU) in overtime by a score of 4-3, earning a trip to the National Championships. Kurt Mitchell buried the first goal of the game with just about five minutes left in the first period. More action took place going both ways, but the first period came to a close with KSC up 1-0.

Shortly into the second period, the Owls went down a player and conceded, leveling the game at one. Goaltender Carlin Testa made several key saves throughout the second period, but it wasn’t enough to hold off NU, who tallied two more goals before the end of the second period.

KSC entered the third period down by a pair of goals until Cooper Hines scored a goal on the power play to bring the team within one. Over halfway into the third period, Andrew Pierce beat the NU goaltender to tie the game at 3-3. A strong performance from Testa throughout the game kept the score tied, sending it to overtime.

Northeastern had their chances in the overtime period, getting several shots off, but none of them got past Testa. Minutes later, Tucker Johnson scored the game-winning goal that sent KSC to the ACHA national championship.

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com

For the first time in Keene State history, the women’s basketball team took home the Little East Conference (LEC) championship title.

Nicole Boucher/ Contributing photo

Sunday, Feb. 26, they returned to Eastern Connecticut State University (ESCU) for the Little East Conference (LEC) championship game. Keene managed its first tournament title in the 31-year history of the tournament with a 71-58 victory over the two-time defending LEC tournament champion, the Warriors.

Keene was ranked eighth in the NCAA Division III Northeast Region, received the NCAA Division III tournament bid and was awarded the LEC tournament champion, which gave the program its third NCAA invitation, second as a member of Division III. Ranked fourth in the NCAA Division III Northeast poll, Eastern is in the mix for an NCAA tournament at-large selection.

The Owls outscored the Warriors 16-8 in the first quarter. Stephanie D’Annolfo had 21 points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Jacob Paquin/ Equinox staff

Sandi Purcell had a team-high of 23 points. Purcell is now the 20th women’s basketball player in Keene State history who has made it to 1,000 points.

Eastern hit a three right off the bat, receiving the first points of the game. Keene State had back-to-back baskets from D’Annolfo, putting the Owls ahead by two. Little did the Owls know, it would be a lead they would never give up. Keene State extended their lead to 13-6 after Amanda Petrow got a rebound and sent it right back up the court to make a basket. The Warriors could only make one basket before the sound of the buzzer went off.

The Warriors brought the lead to two, with a three-point shot. D’Annolfo and Purcell answered back for the Owls. D’Annolfo hit the final basket before both teams headed to the locker room for the half with the Owls up by eight.

Keene State kept extending their lead even further; they got up to a 14-point lead, as D’Annolfo hit a layup with 6:21 left in the third quarter. Purcell hit a basket from beyond the arc, sustaining the double-digit lead, 51-38 KSC.

Eastern managed to dish out a three-point shot in the beginning of the fourth to shorten the lead to seven. With just eight minutes left in the game, the Owls ignited and went on a 12-2 run, earning their largest lead.

This would take the Owls home and seal the win, 71-58. The Owls will play Friday, March 3 against the University of Rochester in New York..

Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com