Nov. 26, 2008
Box Score
HAMILTON, N.Y.--Senior J.D. Pollock scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Kennesaw State men's basketball to a 54-50 victory over Colgate at Cotterell Court on Wednesday night.
On the night before Thanksgiving, both KSU and Colgate played the first half as if the tryptophan from a big turkey dinner was making the teams sleepy. The Owls led, 20-11, with two minutes left in the first half after Artie Marine drained a pair of free throws. Colgate would go on an 8-0 run to go into the locker room down 20-19, the last points coming on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Trevaron Vinson.
Undaunted, the Owls would re-establish the tempo in the second half, clamping down on Colgate defensively and riding the hot-hand of Pollock to open up a 36-30 lead. John Allison extended the lead to eight, 38-30, with a put-back off a missed jumper with 8:47 remaining. Allison got the lead up to 10, 42-32, with his dunk with 6:17 left.
Pollock knocked down a pair of jumpers to give KSU a lead by a dozen, 46-34, with 4:@8 left. Colgate kept fighting, trimming the lead down to five, 52-47, with 20 seconds to go. After a missed free throw for the Owls, Colgate had a chance to cut the lead to three, but a jumper went off the iron and KSU came up with the rebound. Sophomore Kelvin McConnell stepped to the line with nine seconds left and sank a pair of free throws, giving KSU the points they needed to get the victory.
"We kept calling J.D.'s number and he kept delivering," said KSU head coach Tony Ingle. "I'm really proud with how well our defense played tonight. We really made [Colgate] work for their points."
The Owls moved over .500 after five games for the first time since the program went to Division I. The loss for Colgate was their first after winning the first two games of the season on the road.
The Owls will be back in action this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. against Maryland-Eastern Shore at the KSU Convocation Center.
