Feb. 9, 2008
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. - After a sharp-shooting first half, Kennesaw State cooled off in the second half as Gardner-Webb knocked off the Owls, 77-63, at the KSU Convocation Center on Saturday night.
The Owls (6-19, 3-8 A-Sun) and the Bulldogs were tied at 42-42 at halftime, but Kennesaw State scored just 21 points in the second half as they shot 21 percent from the floor.
Gardner-Webb (12-13, 6-5 A-Sun) got a tremendous effort from Thomas Sanders. The Bulldogs guard posted a double-double with a game-high 30 points and added 11 rebounds.
The Bulldogs scored the first six points of the second half, but Kennesaw State wasn't able to come closer than three points the rest of the game. The Owls cut the lead to three on three different occasions, each on the heels of a Ronell Wooten basket.
Wooten, who scored a team-high 16 points, scored 10 points in the second half including two of his trio of three-pointers. Gardner-Webb did a good job of defending the Owls top-scorer, holding him to just 4-of-16 shooting from the field.
Kennesaw State's final rally culminated on an alley-oop dunk by Wooten after a steal by Jon-Michael Nickerson. Nickerson and Wooten double-teamed Takayo Siddle near mid-court and Nickerson plucked the loose ball, dribbled down court before catching Wooten coming from the left.
The rim-rocking dunk was the last thing KSU fans had to cheer about as Gardner-Webb scored the next 12 points and ended the game on a 15-4 run to move a game over .500 in the conference.
For Kennesaw State, the loss means that the Owls will have to win their final five games of the season in order to finish .500 in the conference for the third consecutive year.
Shuan Stegall scored 15 points for the Owls and is now just 72 points away from 1,000 career points. Tanner Jacobs finished with a double-double scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while fellow frosh Kelvin McConnell scored nine points and dished out five assists.
The Owls will be back in action on Thursday evening as they battle the Stetson Hatters at 7:30 p.m. at the KSU Convocation Center. The game can be seen live on ASun.TV and can be heard on SuperTalk 1230/1340 AM.
