Feb. 10, 2007
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -Jacksonville overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to edge Kennesaw State, 76-72, at Swisher Gymnasium on Saturday evening.
The Owls (11-16, 7-8 A-Sun) battled back from a six-point deficit with just over a minute to play to cut the lead to 74-72 with 21 seconds left to play. However, a pair of free-throws by Jacksonville's Ben Smith (7-for-11) gave JU a four-point lead.
Three-point shots by Golden Ingle (2-for-11) and Ronell Wooten (1-for-8) were off the mark and a turnover by Shuan Stegall (4-for-8) with five seconds left sealed the defeat.
Kennesaw State hit 10-of-13 free-throws over the final five minutes of the game as they furiously battled to tie the game at 61-61 with 4:30 left in the game.
On the following possession, Smith hit a three-pointer and was fouled in the act by Brent Ragsdale. The four-point play swung momentum to the Dolphins who kept the lead over three-points until Stegall's tip-in made the score 74-72.
Jacksonville (13-11, 9-5 A-Sun), who trailed the Owls 41-28 at the break, slowly chipped away at the Kennesaw State lead before using a 11-4 run over a six minute span midway in the second half to eradicate a four-point Kennesaw State lead and turn a 57-53 KSU lead into a three-point Dolphin advantage with 4:13 left.
A frigid shooting spell helped seal the Owls fate as Kennesaw State made just one field goal over an eight-minute stretch in which Jacksonville outscored the Owls by an 18-5 margin.
Ingle hit a jumper with 13:15 left to give the Owls a 52-43 lead. Until the 5:11 mark, the Owls got one basket, a lay-up by Stegall at the 10:15 mark, until Jon-Michael Nickerson (6-for-8) hit a jumper with 5:05 remaining to cut the Jacksonville lead to 61-59.
Smith led all scorers with 20 points for Jacksonville while teammate Jesse Kimbrough added 19 points. Ragsdale (4-for-7) hit for a season-high 17 points for Kennesaw State. Stegall added 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Andre Morgan (3-for-7), Ingle and Nickerson each contributed 12 points. Nickerson also had four blocks in the game.
Wooten, who scored three of the Owls first five points and did not score since the 18:06 mark of the first half, missed seven of his eight shots. Kennesaw State made half their shots inside the three-point arc, but they made only five of 20 three-pointers.
The Owls will be back in action on Wednesday evening as they play Georgia at 7:00 p.m. in Athens.
