Jan. 2, 2007
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. - Ronell Wooten scored a team-high 18 points and Andre Morgan added 14 as Kennesaw State rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to upend first-place Lipscomb, 66-55, at the KSU Convocation Center on Tuesday evening.
Kennesaw State (5-10, 1-2 A-Sun) came into the first game of the new year fresh off a win over Alabama State and was eager to post its first conference win of the season. However, an unbeaten Lipscomb was looking to stay perfect as it quickly built a second half advantage.
Lipscomb (8-6, 2-1 A-Sun) used a 5-0 run to trim the Owls lead to a basket before Brent Ragsdale (4-for-8) hit a pair of free-throws with 3:11 left to play to give KSU a four-point, 57-53, lead. The Owls built a five-point lead when Wooten's dunk brought down the house with 2:19 left in the game. Kennesaw State would not let the Bisons get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
After Trey Williams (2-for-11) hit a three-pointer to make the score 40-32 with 17:12 remaining, the Owls exploded with a 15-2 run to lead 47-42 with 10:05 remaining. Kennesaw State and would each score six points over the next three minutes as the Owls built its lead to 53-46 after Wooten hit a free-throw with 7:40 left.
The games leading scorer Eddie Ard (7-for-14) then tried to mount a Lipscomb comeback on his own. A driving lay-up cut the Owls lead to 53-48 with 7:22 left, but an errant three-pointer by trey Williams was followed by a short jumper by Golden Ingle (2-for-7) and KSU once again had a seven-point lead with under six minutes remaining.
Leading by seven points with nearly eight minutes remaining, a tight Kennesaw State defense produced a pair of Shaun Stegall (5-for-14) steals. However, the KSU offense couldn't muster a point in the two minutes before Michael Lusk (1-for-4) hit a three-pointer with just over five minutes left in the game to cut the lead to 55-51.
In the first half, the Owls got out of the gates slowly and were scoreless until Wooten (6-for-12) followed a Jon- Michael Nickerson (1-for-3) miss with a dunk at the 14:21 mark of the game. Fortunately for Kennesaw State, the Owls defense was effective in limiting Lipscomb to just a pair of free-throws and a lay-up over the same span of time.
Nickerson gave Kennesaw State its only lead of the first half when he made a lay-up at the 12:42 mark giving the Owls a 7-6 advantage. KSU would be tied twice with the Bisons over the next six minutes before Lipscomb took control of the lead for the remainder of the half before taking a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
The Owls will be back in action on Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. when they host Belmont at the KSU Convocation Center.
