By: by Mark Toma
KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State will hit the road this weekend when they begin a three-game road trip against the Maine Black Bears on Sunday afternoon in Orono at the Alfond Arena.
The Owls (4-4), who will play five of their next six games on the road, enter Sunday’s game having won two of their last three games and are coming off an impressive, 97-91, win over Lipscomb last Saturday night at the KSU Convocation Center.
The Black and Gold had a record-setting night against Lipscomb, establishing a slew of Division I records, including points in a game (97), three-pointers made (19) while their 76% percent three-point percentage shattered the old program mark of 60 percent. Their 63.6% shooting from the field also set a new overall mark for the Owls basketball program.
Kennesaw State will be facing Maine for the second time in two seasons, with the teams meeting in the finals of last year’s 100 Club Classic at the Convocation Center, with the Black Bears coming away with a 60-47 win.
Maine (4-4) is coming off a, 133-58, home win over University of Maine Presque Isle on Thursday evening and has three players scoring in double figures led by Gerald McLemore, Sean McNally and Terrance Mitchell.
Prior to Thursday night’s contest, The Black Bears had spent six of their first seven games of the 2009-2010 on the road, posting three impressive road wins over Fordham, Delaware State and Colgate. The lone game played in front of their home crowd in Alfond Arena was a 59-46 loss at the hands of Quinnipiac.
The Owls will strongly rely on redshirt freshman Markeith Cummings to provide a bulk of their offensive production. The Savannah, Ga. native was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week on Monday and is emerging as one of the most dynamic freshmen in the country. He is second in NCAA Division I among freshmen in scoring, behind only John Wall of Kentucky, and is the only freshman in the nation to post both a point-rebound, point-assist double-double this season. His 17.3 points per game rank fifth in the A-Sun.
A win on Sunday night would bring head coach Tony Ingle one step closer to the program’s win record. The third head coach in Owls history has 161 victories since taking over prior to the 2000-2001 season and is just four wins behind Phil Zenoni for the all-time mark.
The Black and Gold are off to their second best start since becoming a Division I member in 2005 and can match their best-ever nine game start with a victory. The Owls also started last season with five wins in their first nine games.
Tip-off for the game will be at 1:00 p.m. and can be heard live on 920 am WGKA and also online at www.920WGKA.com. Craig Corbin, play-by-play, and Scott Webb, color analyst, will call the action.
