By: by Mark Toma
Box Score
DeLAND, Fla. - The Florida sunshine continued to heat up Kennesaw State as the Owls completed their two-game weekend sweep with a 75-59 win over Stetson on Sunday afternoon at Edmunds Arena.
The Owls (8-12, 3-6 A-Sun) won their second straight game on the heels of a double-double by Markeith Cummings, who scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The Owls had four players score in double fighures with Kurtis Woods adding 13 points while Jon-Michael Nickerson and LaDaris green each added 11 points.
Kennesaw State won back-to-back games for the first time since opening the season with wins over North Greenville and North Georgia and also marked the first time that KSU won back-to-back conference road games since the 2005-06 season when the Black and Gold won their first four Atlantic Sun Conference road games, defeating Gardner-Webb, Campbell, Mercer and Stetson.
It was another strong start for the Owls as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead on jumpers by Matt Heramb and Green before Woods hit the first of his three, first half, three-pointers. After Stetson tied the game at nine, Woods delivered another clutch three-pointer to build a 12-9 lead.
A.J. Smith, who led Stetson with 17 points, hit a free-throw to bring the Hatters to within a possession of the Owls at 15-12, but that was as close as Stetson would get the rest of the game. Cummings led a quick Kennesaw State response with back-to-back three-pointers in a 30 second span and Kelvin McConnell finished the 9-1 spurt with a traditional three-point play as the Owls lead 24-13 mid-way thought he first half.
Stetson (5-13, 2-7 A-Sun) cracked into the KSU lead one final time in the first half when Smith and Ridge Graham (15 points, 8 rebounds) connected on three-pointers as they trimmed the Owls lead to five points. However, Nickerson one-handedly seized control of the game for the Owls, scoring the next seven points to build a 31-19 lead. The senior from Mill brook, Ala. connected on a lay-up, three-pointer and short jumper to give the Owls a double-digit.
The Hatters began the second half on a 7-2 run to make the score 40-33, but the Owls again answered when Heramb hit a jumper, Cummings followed with a pair of baskets and Jonathan Whipple's short jumper built the Black and Gold's lead to 51-35 with 10 minutes left.
The Owls will be back in action on Wednesday evening when they conclude their four-game road trip with a visit to Macon to battle the Bears of Mercer. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and can be heard live on 920 am WGKA and on-line at www.920WGKA.com. Craig Corbin and Scott Webb will call the action beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m.
