KEENE, N.H.– Eastern University Men's Basketball ran into an incredibly hot shooting Keene State College team and saw its historic run end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The host Owls made 17-of-27 from behind the arc to earn a 109-85 win. Zubair Lee battled foul trouble but finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Eagles.

Eastern (21-8) came into the game on an eight game winning streak. And had played in front of heavily partisan crowds in that stretch.Tonight, the home crowd  had a lot to cheer about as the Owls made eight 3-pointers in the opening 13 minutes of the game on the way to a 38-26 lead. In response, the Eagles took away the long shots and the Owls found space inside and built their lead to 46-26 with four and half minutes to play in the first half.

The Eagles had trailed by big numbers in the first half at Widener and at Hood and had been able to find runs to close the gap, but the experienced hosts took good care of the ball and were able to hold off any Eastern runs and take a 54-36 lead to the break.

The only encouragement the Eagles could take was a belief that Keene State would not repeat their 9-of15 shooting performance and that their fifth-year senior, All-American Jeff Hunter picked up his second foul at the very end of the half.

"They did a good job staying with our guys off the ball," Head Coach Dan Pruessner said after the game. "We had to commit to getting to the rim off the bounce and hopefully lengthening the game by getting to the foul line. We did that in the second half, but it seemed like every time we put a little dent in their lead, they hit a big three."

Lee picked up two quick fouls to start the second half. The Eagles answered and got Hunter into foul trouble with his fourth. Keene's other All-American, Octavio Britto picked up the slack. He scored 24 of his career-high 40 on 7-of-11 shots in the second half.

"Credit to him," Pruessner continued. "We got three of their seven guys in foul trouble, but he was just in a zone tonight. They were shooting around 33 percent from three for the year, so we really felt we would focus in on Hunter and get out to contest the shooters. We threw a couple zones at them to try to get them off balance, and they did a good job of finding the openings."

Hunter, who leads the NCAA in double-doubles, had 20 points and 14 rebounds in what might be his final game in Spaulding Gymnasium. The Owls (26-3) will play Guilford College in the Sweet 16 at a to-be-determined location. They are in the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.

Kaeshawn Ward had 16 points and five assists, and Jaron Fairweather and Eljay Morris each finished with 13 points. Kevin Reeves made 5-of-7 shots for 10 points. With his 13 rebounds tonight, Lee eclipsed the 500 rebound mark for his career. With 504, he sits five behind Jaron Fairweather who finishes his career with 1222 points and 509 rebounds. We 358 career assists, Ward is in third on the all-time Eastern list and first among players from the NCAA era. 

"This has been an incredible group of seniors," Pruessner concluded. "We won our first conference championship and won a game in the NCAA Tournament. Its always about building. When I got here, there was a great foundation of guys in place, and we had guys who built on that to get us here, and I think our young guys will build on what this group of seniors have done."

The 21 wins ties the mark set by the 21-22 team as the best total since Eastern joined Division III in 1992.