By: by Mark Toma
KENNESAW, GA. - When Kennesaw State ends its three-game homestand on Tuesday evening against SIU-Edwardsville, the Owls will look to begin something else --- a winning streak. The Black and Gold will seek to snap its four-game slide as they take on the Cougars at 7:30 p.m. at the KSU Convocation Center.
The Owls (5-11, 1-5 A-Sun), who completed their four-year NCAA Division I transition this past June, will battle an SIU-Edwardsville squad that is currently in a similar transition. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville will complete its reclassification process in 2012 and is on track to become a full-fledged Division I member for the 2012-13 season.
A former member of the Division II Great Lakes Conference, SIU-Edwardsville (2-14), who is averaging 62 points per game this season, has suffered through a difficult schedule this season and enters the game on the heels of an eight-game losing streak. The Cougars have played Illinois, Purdue, Ball State, Murray State in addition to a pair of meetings with Lipscomb.
However, both of the Cougars wins this season have come away from home as they captured the Drake Hy-Vee Tournament Challenge with a two-point win over Drake and a four-point win over Texas-Arlington in the finals.
Meanwhile, the Kennesaw State offense has sputtered of late, averaging just 53 points over its last four games while not scoring more than 60 points. The Black and Gold are coming off a loss to Campbell on Saturday night in which the Owls second-leading scorer, Kurtis Woods, scored a team-high 24 points while Markeith Cummings scored in double-figures for the 16th straight time.
Looking for a boost inside, redshirt junior Matt Heramb, a transfer from Auburn, made his sixth start of the season on Saturday (his first since Nov. 27 vs. Tennessee State) and played a career-high 31 minutes, grabbing five rebounds while playing his best defensive game of the year.
Six-foot-six-inch forward Mark Yelovich and 6-foot-1-inch guard Aamir McCleary lead the Cougars. Yelovich, a sophomore who is averaging 15.1 points per game, led SIUE in scoring last season, the third freshman to ever lead the Cougars program in scoring. McCleary, a senior, is second in scoring at 11.7 points per game also leads the Cougars with just over five assists per game.
The Owls are 4-6 in non-conference games this season, but have a perfect 3-0 mark at the KSU Convocation Center with wins over North Greenville, North Georgia and Fordham.
Tip-off between the Owls and the Cougars is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and can be heard live on 920am WGKA as well as on-line at www.920WGKA.com. Craig Corbin, play-by-play, and Scott Webb, color analyst, will call the action beginning with the pregame show at 7:00 p.m.
