Dec. 23, 2008
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga.--Sophomore Kelvin McConnell scored 18 points and dished out seven assists, but the Kennesaw State men's basketball team fell to East Tennessee State 76-62 on Tuesday night at the KSU Convocation Center in an Atlantic Sun Conference game.
"ETSU is a very good team," said KSU head coach Tony Ingle. "I really think the difference in the game was that every time ETSU needed a big play, they made the play every time. Every time we needed a big play, we made it some of the time."
The Owls (5-5, 1-1) trailed 34-26 after the first half but closed the gap to two in the first 75 seconds of the second half on a pair of three-pointers for McConnell. ETSU's All-Atlantic Sun honorees Courtney Pigram and Kevin Tiggs combined to score the next five poitns, but the Owls came right back on a three-pointer by Kevin Woods and a lay-up for Jon-Michael Nickerson to cut the deficit to two, 39-37, with 15:31 to go in the contest.
That would be the as close as the Owls would get for the rest of the game. Leading 46-41, ETSU (8-3, 2-0) went on a 18-4 run over the next seven minutes to extend the lead to 18, 63-45. The Owls would trim the lead back to single-digits only one other time as Woods connected on a three-pointer to give KSU a nine-point hill to climb, 69-60, with 74 seconds left. But ETSU would score the next seven points of the game from the foul line and pull away for the 76-62 win.
Woods finished with 12 points for the Owls while Nickerson had 13. Zadrian Gibson came within a point of a double-double, scoring nine and pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Buccaneers hit on 27-of-51 from the field for a 52.9 percent clip. Mike Smith tied Tiggs for game-high scoring honors with 19, while Isiah Brown added 18 and Pigram chipped in 15. The Owls out-rebounded ETSU 37-25, but KSU committed 19 turnovers to just nine for the visitors.
KSU will be off for the Christmas holiday and will not return to action until December 31 when the Owls head to Athens, Ga., to take on Georgia. Game time is slated for 4:00 p.m.
