PSU Men's basketball falls to RIC and Keene State

The Plymouth State's Men's Basketball team lost two tough games to wrap up the regular season against Keene State (93-87) and Rhode Island College (97-67). The season continues for the Panthers though, as they played Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday, February 22 in the Little East Conference (LEC) Tournament. The Panthers go into the tournament as the sixth seed while the hosting Warriors are the third seed. 

In the first meeting between these two teams, ECSU defeated the Panthers 82-65. Although the Panthers lost, senior Ryan Lambert (Derry, N.H.) posted 34 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they shot only 37% from the floor while ECSU shot 44%.

The second meeting of the year was one that the Panthers put up a valiant effort, put ultimately came up short, losing 63-56 to the Warriors. The Panthers had three players with double figure point totals as Lambert (13 points), Matt Feehan (Nashua, N.H.) (12 points) and Tom Dowd (Portsmouth, N.H.) (15 points) led the way for the Plymouth State.

The Keene State game, which was played on February 15th, was a game that the Panthers were constantly playing catch up, as the Owls of Keene State shot almost 60% on the game. The Panthers, who were down 35-45 at halftime, almost rallied back in the second half behind 32 points from Ryan Lambert. Lambert went 8-8 from the foul line to go along with five assists.  Tom Dowd and Matt Feehan also added double digit point totals, as both players combined for 27 points along with seven rebounds. The Panthers couldn't complete the comeback though, as they shot 46% on the game from the floor. 

To wrap up the regular season, Plymouth State played the Rhode Island College Anchorman. The Panthers started off strong, leading 13-5 6:41 into the first half, but RIC went on a 40-19 run to close out the first half with a 45-32 lead. The second half didn't get much better for the Panthers as the Anchorman slowly but surely built up a lead throughout the second half. By the end of the game, the lead had ballooned to a 30 point deficit.

One good thing about the postseason is that the slate is swiped clean, and as Head Coach Damien Strahorn put it, "It's a new season now. We were able to get in and now it's not about records; it's about who plays best for one night." The Panthers are in the tournament, and it honestly is just about playing good just one night. With players like Ryan Lambert, Ian Dempsey (Andover, Mass.), Tom Dowd, Brian Chergey (Bow, N.H.) and Bill Stowell (Stratham, N.H.), why can't it be the Panthers?