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Owls hit the road - Travel to ECSU for LEC doubleheader on Tuesday
KEENE, N.H. 1/23/12 – Fresh off Saturday's sweep of UMass-Dartmouth, Keene State men's and women's basketball teams get right back to work on Tuesday, traveling down to Willimantic, Conn. to take on the Warriors of Eastern Conn. State University.
The Little East Conference doubleheader begins with the women's game at 5:30 p.m. followed by the men's game, scheduled to begin at 7:30 at ECSU's Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Both Owl teams find themselves still in the LEC pennant race. The KSC men (12-4. 6-1 LEC), winners of five of their last six games, can move into a tie for first place with a win while the Owl women (10-5, 5-2 LEC), who have won two straight, look to break the logjam that has them tied with Southern Maine and Western Conn. for the second spot in the standings.
No one can argue about the KSC men's strength of the schedule. The Owls will be facing their third nationally-ranked team in their last five games (Rhode Island College was 20th and Western Conn. was 23rd). KSC host the top team in the country Middlebury College on Jan. 31. Owners of a 14-1 (7-0 LEC) record and riding an 13 game winning streak, the LEC leading Warriors cracked the D3Hoops.com poll for the first time last week, moving up to #18 in the poll released on Tuesday.
Keene State Coach Rob Colbert says playing a nationally-ranked team, in some respects, makes his job a little easier. "It's easy to coach and motivate a team when you're playing one of the top teams in the country," said Colbert, who predicts that the LEC will have four teams in the top-25 by the end of the season.
If the Owls hope to win, they will have to keep close tabs on Nick Nedwick, the LEC's player of the week. The senior guard averaged 22.5 points and six rebounds per game, leading Eastern to wins over Western Conn. and Southern Maine last week. Junior forward Chris Robitaille also leads the LEC in field goal pct. (.704).
Keene State's Ryan Martin also had the hot-hand last week. The junior guard scored a career high 34 points in the Owls' 70-68 victory over UMass-Dartmouth on Saturday. "It's nice to know that Ryan can put up those numbers, but we definitely need to get points from some other players," said Colbert. "I'm also concern how we are rebounding right now. I think that's going to come back and bite us pretty soon."
The game will pit the conference's top offense against the top defense. KSC leads the LEC in scoring offense (84.4 ppg.) while ECSU has given up just 55.4 ppg.
The Geissler Gymnasium hasn't been one of Keene State's favorite road venues over the years. Since joining the LEC in 1997-98, the Owls have gone 8-7 at the Gym, dropping their last three games.
The Keene State women will face a young and depleted Warrior team which is playing without three of its starters. ECSU (6-11, 2-5 LEC) has lost four straight including a 94-52 setback to Southern Maine on Saturday. Despite the Warriors' downturn, KSC Coach Keith Boucher says you can't take any team lightly. "No game is going to be easy," he said. "If you go into any game thinking you're better than your opponent then usually the result isn't going to be very good"
Senior Courtney Cirillo, who was named the LEC and NEWBA player of the week after scoring a season high 29 points while draining a school record 17 free throws in a 77-65 win against UMass-Dartmouth, enters Tuesday's game just six points shy of the 1,000-point career milestone. She will become the 19th KSC women's player to join the 1,000-point career club. While it appears she won't have the opportunity to reach the mark at home, the Windsor Locks, Conn. native has the chance to hit the coveted milestone in her home state. "If she doesn't get more than six points, we're not going to win," said Boucher. "Courtney is playing real well right now. She's one of the toughest match-up in our conference. She can hurt you inside and outside and no one is better chasing rebounds."
The Geissler Gymnasium has been a house of horrors for the Owls. Since moving to the LEC, Keene State has gone 2-14 at the Gym. The Owls have dropped their last six games in Willimantic, including a 65-45 overtime game in the first-round of the LEC tournament last year.
