PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Plymouth State University men's basketball team fell to the #24 Keene State College Owls, 80-70, in a Little East Conference (LEC) contest in Foley Gymnasium Wednesday night.
The Panthers led for more than half the game, but a second half surge gave the Owls a lead too big to overcome. Senior
Kevin Henry (Stratham, N.H.) led the Panthers with 20 points, his eighth 20-point performance of the season, while classmate
Elijah Swanson (Meredith, N.H.) added 17 points of his own. Sophomore
Ivan Yen (Concord, N.H.) tallied 12 points and junior
Torran Bosworth (Springfield, Mass.) rounded out the Panther scoring, registering ten points in the losing effort for the Panthers.
Keene State remains undefeated in LEC conference play this season.
Plymouth State slips to 9-9 (3-7 LEC), while the Owls improve to 16-3 (10-0 LEC).
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 70, Keene State 80
- Plymouth State (9-9, 3-7 LEC)
- Keene State (16-3, 10-0 LEC)
Top Performers:
- Plymouth State
- Kevin Henry (20 pts, 9-15 fg, 5 reb, 3 stl)
- Elijah Swanson (17 pts, 6-14 fg, 2-6 3pt, 3 ast)
- Ivan Yen (12 pts, 4-9 fg, 3-5 3pt, 6 reb, 4 stl)
- Torran Bosworth (10 pts)
How it Happened:
- The Panthers found themselves down early, 6-2, with 18:44 left in the first half.
- Plymouth State jumped on a 16-3 run to take an 18-9 lead with 11:57 on the clock in the opening segment.
- Keene State slowly cut into the deficit, knocking down a jumper late in the shot clock with 4:59 remaining until halftime, to bring the score to 28-26.
- PSU continued to hit shots, keeping up with the Owls' pace and playing tough defensively as the Panthers maintained a two-point advantage, 35-33, at the halftime break.
- Plymouth State increased the margin to 41-36 with 17:12 left in regulation.
- The Owls swooped in with ten unanswered points to take their first lead since the opening minutes of play, 46-41, with 13:19 on the clock.
- Plymouth State got to within one, 53-52, with 9:40 remaining in the contest.
- The Owls put their foot on the gas with another ten-point run to increase the buffer to 69-56 with 5:35 to go in the game.
- PSU went on an 8-0 run of its own – cutting the lead back to 71-66 at the 2:34 mark.
- Keene State responded, restoring the double-digit lead in the final minute.
By the Numbers:
- Plymouth State went 25-of-60 (41.7%) from the floor, and 8-of-21 (38.1%) from distance.
- Keene State knocked down 14 three-pointers.
- The Panthers forced 13 turnovers while allowing only ten on the night.
- The Owls outrebounded PSU by a margin of 38-28, and 10-7 on the offensive glass.
- Bench points were in the Panthers' favor, 24-19.
- PSU recorded eight steals to two for the Owls.
- Plymouth State is 21-44 in the head-to-head matchup dating back to the 1997-98 season.
Up Next:
- The Panthers face UMass Dartmouth for another league game on Saturday (Feb. 1) at the Tripp Athletic Center. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.
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