KEENE, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) It was a successful first round of the Little East Conference Tournament for the basketball programs of Keene State College Wednesday, as both the men’s and women’s teams are advancing to the semifinals. The Owls’ entered both of their respective tournaments as the No.3 seed and hosted back-to-back contests at Keene State, with the women hosting Eastern Connecticut State University at and the men hosting Rhode Island College.

The women’s game was a back-and-forth affair that featured 12 lead changes, nine of which came in the first quarter, and the game looked like it could’ve been either team for the taking within the first 30 minutes, though KSC eventually won 60-54. The Owls led the sixth-seeded Warriors by two after the third quarter, and had actually entered the locker room at the break trailing by one.

Keene State came out of the break blazing hot, starting the third frame on a 13-4 run. The two squads traded 3-pointers, but over thee next three and change, the Warriors utilized offensive boards and mitigated the damage from the initial scoring outburst. In the final 10 minutes, the complexion of the game completely changed.

After Eastern Connecticut’s Marissa Nudd made a free throw early in the fourth quarter, scoring slowed to a halt. It took the Owls over four minutes into the final frame before they were able to put points on the board, courtesy of a Ruby Dasaro layup. She scored on the next possession as well, extending Keene State’s lead to five. Scoring went back and forth over the next 2:30, and the Owls led by three with 2:32 left in the game.

Keene State would add three more points, and as the clock bled zero, held on for the six point win. Dasaro was the leading scorer with 18 points, in addition to 12 rebounds and eight assists. Brynn Rautiola, who broke the single season scoring record in the final regular season game, added 16 points with eight rebounds with three assists.

The men’s basketball game, while having a more lopsided score, with the Owls ultimately blowing out the Anchormen by 20, 101-81, was just as close as the women’s game for a time. The closeness of the first 20 minutes makes sense, as Keene State and RIC knew each other quite well; these two teams had just played each other on Feb. 21. The first half ended with Keene State ahead by three points, lading 47-44.

The first half of the men’s game was a game of runs, as there weren’t many lead changes. The Owls led 5-4 early on, but then didn’t lead again until Mitch Shettles buried a 3-pointer to put them up 30-29. The Anchormen then went up 33-30, but Keene State looked to have hit its stride as it went on a 14-0 run, before it was ultimately matched with an 11-3 run by RIC, leading to the three point difference at the break.

When teams have seen each other that recently, it would be reasonable to expect staunch defense and an understanding of the opposing teams playbook. For the Anchormen, there may have been an understanding of the playbook of the Owls, but that didn’t matter to Jordan Cooper, who matched his career high at Keene State with 38 points on very good efficiency, shooting 14-of-23 from the field, good for 60 percent, and also making five of his eight 3-point attempts. Cooper also went five of six at the charity stripe.

The theme of this first round matchup being a game of runs continued late into the second half as the two teams continued battling. With just nine minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the contest, the Owls went on a 30-11 run over 7:22, which saw two Owls match the total output from the Anchormen over that same timeframe.

The aforementioned Cooper continued his dominance with 11 points during this stretch, including an explosive dunk, but freshman guard Allyn Wright also got on a hot streak, dropping 11 points. Off the bench, Wright finished as the games second leading scorer behind Cooper. Combined, the two guards accounted for 58 points, more than half of Keene State’s total output.

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be on the road at their respective tournament’s No.2 seeds on Friday, Feb 27. The women’s team will travel to snowy Rhode Island College, facing the Anchorwomen at 6:30 p.m. The men’s team will travel to the University of Massachusetts-Boston, facing the Beacons at 7 p.m.