Eastern’s (7-15, 3-10 little east) loss, coupled with the University of Southern Maine’s 88-87 home upset win of conference co-leader Plymouth State University, drops the Warriors into last place in the conference with one regular-season game remaining. Keene (15-8, 8-5 little east) won for the eighth time in its last nine games and holds onto sole possession of fourth place in the eight-team conference.
The top four teams in the final regular-season standings host the bottom four seeds in conference playoff first-round games Tuesday.
Senior guard Mike Bartunek’s three-point field goal had pulled Eastern to within two points, 75-73, but the Warriors couldn’t capitalize on three scoring chances in the final minute of play. The Owls were able to record their ninth straight win over Eastern by sinking three free throws in the final seconds.
Eastern junior guard Michael Stallings scored 10 of his 11 points in the game on four successive shots miway through the second half that helped cut a 12-point gap to one, 63-62 with eight minutes left. Eastern outscored the Owls 15-4 in that four-minute stretch, with Stallings bookending a pair of two-point field goals around two three-pointers. Keene was able to push the lead back to seven points, but Eastern rallied again behind a free throw from Stallings, a three-pointer from sophomore guard Matt Albon and Bartunek’s three-pointer that made it 75-73.
Behind junior forward Ben Maynard, Keene shot 56.3 per cent from the floor in the first half to assume a ten-point, 48-38 lead at halftime. Maynard was 5-for-6 from the floor in the first half on the way to a 7-for-9 shooting night and 17 points. Junior forward Sean Sullivan also had 17 points and freshman guard David Sontag added 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Senior guard Harley Davis had 14 points (5-for-8 from the floor), six rebounds and six assists.
Albon shared game-high scoring honors with 17 points. He converted a career-high five three-pointers in as many attempts to give him 14 three-pointers in 21 attempts over the last five games. Bartunek added three three-point field goals to give him at least one in his last eight games and in 14 of his last 15 and finished with 11 points. Freshman guard Shiwon Davis chipped in 11 points and a career-high seven assits.
As a team, Eastern connected on a season-tying 13 three-pointers in 24 attempts for a season-high percentage of 54.2 and is now 29-for-59 (49.2 per cent) from three-point range over its last three games.