Dec. 1, 2006
Box Score
Deland, Fla. - The Owls rallied back from a 14-point deficit in the second half, but were only able to score two points over the final three minutes as Stetson came back to edge Kennesaw State, 61-56 at the Edmonds Center on Thursday evening.
Trailing 43-29 with 13:19 remaining, freshman Keonte Keith (3-for-3) took a pass from Andre Morgan (4-for-13) and hit a short jumper to kick off a 7-0 run and put the Owls (2-5, 0-1 A-Sun) back in the game trailing by seven points with 10:28 remaining.
The Owls and the Hatters would go back-and-forth for the next minute before Golden Ingle (1-for-10) would hit his only field goal of the game to make the score 45-40 with 9:49 left to play.
The game bounced between three and five points before Ronell Wooten (3-for-12) hit a three-pointer with 7:53 left, tying the game at 48-48. The shot was his only three-pointer in eight attempts on the night. The Owls made just 4 of 23 three's all evening.
Two ties followed over the next four minutes before Wooten hit a free-throw with 3:21 left to play. The owls then had an opportunity to push the lead to three-points, but the normally reliable Golden Ingle missed a pair of free-throws with 2:24 left.
Eric Diaz (3-for-6) then hit the first of two three-pointers giving Stetson (3-4, 1-0) a two-point lead. After Wooten missed a trey, Diaz responded with another three-pointer with 40 seconds left to, in essence, clinch the win.
Kennesaw State trailed by five points at halftime after getting off to a scorching start. The Owls saw Stetson hit the first shot of the game, a three-pointer by Thomas, but quickly the Owls built a 12-4 lead, their largest of the night, with 12:53 left.
Shuan Stegall (6-for-17) had his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and adding 10 rebounds. Morgan had his first double-digit scoring game of the season with a 13-point effort. Garfield Blair led Stetson with 11 points while Diaz and Kris Thomas dropped in 10 apiece.
Kennesaw State outrebounded Stetson by 10 overall and 13 on the offensive glass, but made just 20 of 62 shots from the field.
The Owls will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they battle Mercer at 4:30 p.m. in Macon.
