Feb. 14, 2007
Box Score
ATHENS, Ga. - If the Georgia Bulldogs didn't have a lot of love for their north Georgia rivals on Valentine's Day, they certainly had heart-felt respect for Kennesaw State on Valentine's Night as the scrappy Owls battled for 40 minutes before falling, 75-66, on Wednesday night.
In a game that was far closer than the final score indicated, Kennesaw State (11-17) made their first trip to Athens a memorable one. The Owls led as late as the 3:10 mark before coming up short in the first-ever meeting with the Bulldogs.
While the black and gold flags waved on and the crowd stood and cheered, the Georgia faithful could not erase the fact that for 38 minutes the Bulldog Nation was overrun by a Tony Ingle-led legion of black and gold.
Tied a 62-62, a pair of free-throws by Steve Newman (2-for-4) gave Georgia (15-9) a two-point lead, their final of the night, but not before Ronell Wooten (9-for-15), who had nearly single-handedly kept the Owls alive throughout the night, had a three-pointer bounce twice off the rim.
Takias Brown (7-for-11), who had been a thorn in the Owls side in the paint all night long, made a pair of free throws to keep the Owls at arms length. Jon-Michael Nickerson's (3-for-7) offensive rebound and follow pulled the Owls within two. Kennesaw State would get no closer.
Levi Stukes (4-for-10) finally put the pesky Owls to rest with a three-pointer, giving Georgia a five-point lead with 1:20 left.
Trailing by nine points at halftime, Kennesaw State came out on fire in the second half and in less than four minutes, trimmed a nine-point deficit to a two-point game with an 11-2 run to make the score 40-38.
Wooten then drained a three-pointer to bring the Owls within a point. Rashaad Singleton (1-for-3) then got a traditional three-point play after being fouled on a shot that rolled around the iron before falling in. However, Wooten would not let the Owls down, the junior drained a three-pointer seconds later to bring the Owls again within a point.
But it was yet another spectacular, off-balanced lay-up by Wooten that turned the tables. Wooten's traditional three-point play gave the Owls their first lead at 47-45 with 13:40 left and the momentum took a turn towards KSU.
Brown briefly stopped the Owls assault, but Shuan Stegall (4-for-10) quickly applied more pressure when he drained a three-pointer from the far corner to give the Owls their biggest lead of the night.
Wooten hit a ridiculous shot from the top of the key when he launched a shot off a quick pick with teammate Golden Ingle and Georgia guard Sundiata Gaines (6-for-9) within inches of his face. The off-balanced one-handed bomb hit all net for a 55-52 lead with just over nine minutes left.
Brent Ragsdale (3-for-9) hit a free throw for a 56-52 advantage. Ingle then followed with acrobatics of his own, a one-handed off-balanced leaner to push the lead to 58-52 and stun the Bulldog faithful.
With nothing working for Georgia, one man, Brown kept Georgia in the game, a lay-up in the paint kept the Bulldogs close. However, an alley-oop from Ingle to Jonathan Whipple (2-for-4) pushed the lead back to six with 6:30 left.
Brown again answered and after an Ingle missed free-throw Gaines scored on a quick lay-up to make the score 60-58 with 5:10 left. After an errant Ingle lay-up, the Owls sent Stukes to the line where the senior tied the game at 60.
Kennesaw State was able to keep the game within single digits at halftime thanks in part to a tenacious defense that caused 10 Georgia turnovers. The Owls stayed with the Bulldogs over the first 10 minutes of the game and were tied, 16-16, before Georgia went on a 9-0 run.
Stegall tied the game with a strip of Billy Humphrey (3-for-6) and a coast-to-coast lay-up with 9:40 left in the half. However, Humphrey would answer right back on Georgia's next possession when he hit a deep three-pointer from in front of the Owls bench for a 19-16 lead.
Georgia's guard was not finished as he scored on a lay-up after a steal and Gaines picked Ingle and went in for an uncontested lay-up for a, 23-16, lead. Moments later Brown hit a one-handed hook for a nine-point lead.
The Owls made a strong run when Ingle picked Gaines and drove for an uncontested lay-up. Stegall then followed with another lay-up and the lead was trimmed to five, 25-20.
After a Nickerson miss, Gaines capitalized with a three-pointer and Georgia added two free throws and a dunk by Brown to give the hometown Dogs their largest lead, 32-20.
Wooten led all scorers with 25 points, two shy of his season high, while Ragsdale was the only other Kennesaw State player to hit double-figures with 11 points.
Brown led Georgia, who shot 54 percent from the field, with 16 points. Gaines had 15 and Stukes added 14.
The Owls will be back in action on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. when they open up a three-game home stand with East Tennessee State.
