QUICK SECOND-HALF START LIFTS KEENE OVER EASTERN
Owls score 13 of first 14 points in second half in LEC men’s basketball victory
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- Sophomore forward Sean Sullivan scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as the Keene State College men’s basketball team clinched its second Little East Conference regular-season championship in three years with a 76-65 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University Tuesday night at Geissler Gym.
Ranked fourth in the NCAA Northeast Region, Keene (19-5, 12-1 little east) clinched the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, which gets underway with quarterfinal-round games Tuesday. Eastern (13-11, 7-6 little east) had a six-game home winning streak snapped in falling to the Owls for the seventh straight time.
With one regular-season conference game remaining, Eastern shares fourth place with Rhode Island College. Western Connecticut State University broke a three-way tie for third place Tuesday night with a 72-69 win over Rhode Island. The top four seeds host the bottom four seends in the opening round of the conference tournament, which gets underway Tuesday night.
Trailing by three, 33-30 at halftime, Keene held Eastern scoreless from the floor over the first five minutes of the second half, using a 13-1 run to build a nine-point, 43-34 lead.
Sullivan scored eight of his team’s points in that run, three coming on a three-point field goal and three more coming on a conventional three-point play. Eastern missed three field goals and turned the ball over once on five possessions over those first five minutes before senior guard Christopher Morgan (NEW BRITAIN) broke through for a three-point field goal. The three-pointer cut the deficit to six and senior guard Gordon Shepard (WATERBURY) followed a Keene turnover with a bucket to slice the gap to four, but the Warriors would get no closer.
Keene shot 57.1 per cent from the floor in the second half -- pushing the lead to as many as 19 points with four minutes left -- and maintained their lead by sinking 18 of 23 free throws over the final 20 minutes.
Sullivan led three double-figure scorers for Keene, with senior guard Alphonse Michalski adding 17 points and six rebounds, senior forward Chris Timson 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
In the final regular-season home games of their careers, Shepard had 21 points, post player Michael Kipphut (MERIDEN) 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Morgan 11 points. Junior forward Mike Bartunek (DURHAM) added 12 points (four three-pointers) and freshman guard Matt Albon (MIDDLEBURY) six rebounds.
Eastern closes out the regular season Saturday with a Little East Conference game sat Massachusetts Boston at 1 p.m.