Providence Reporter

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--The Keene State College men's basketball standout duo of Jeff Hunter and Octavio Brito have both made the cut as the Bevo Francis Watch List was cut to 50 this afternoon.

The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Considerations will be season statistics and individual achievements, awards, personal character and team achievements. This is an incredibly prestigious award, as this award will only be given to one player within Small College Basketball per season.  On March 15th, the list will be reduced to the Top 25 players. On April 1st, the finalists of this year's award will be announced, followed by the Bevo Francis Award winner being crowned on April 3rd.

Hunter and Brito have powered the Owls to a 22-1 record this season, a 14-0 mark in the Little East Conference, and a top-5 national ranking, the highest in school history.  The Owls won their first 15 games of the season, the best start in school history and the second longest winning streak in school history, and have secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Little East Conference tournament.

Hunter (Hudson, Mass.) enters Wednesday's game at Castleton University averaging 19 points, 13.7 rebounds, 2.9 blocks, and shooting 62.7% from the field.  He has had a double-double in 15 of Keene State's 23 games this season, and has had three games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds each.  Against Southern Maine on December 3, he became the 38th player in program history to reach 1,000 points, and currently has 1,274 points, the 15th highest mark in school history.  

Brito (Lincoln, R.I.) leads the Owls in scoring at 21.3 points per game, while grabbing 6.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.9 steals, shooting 49.6% from the field and 44.8% from three point range.   He also has made 79.5% of his free throws and has scored at least 20 points in 13 games this season, with three games of over 30 points.  He needs 147 points to reach the 1,000 point club himself.

Brito, Hunter, and the Owls take on Castleton University on February 15 at 7:30 p.m. before closing the regular season against UMass Boston at home on February 18 at 1 p.m. 

Original source can be found here.