By: by Scott Lipsky
Box Score I
Notes I
Photo Gallery
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Kennesaw State Owls made their 2010-11 road debut on Saturday evening, falling to the Alabama State Hornets, 74-59, at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome in their first of four games as part of the Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge. Spencer Dixon led the way in scoring for the Owls with 23 points.
Kicking off a stretch in their schedule in which eight out of nine game are away from the KSU Convocation Center, the Owls (2-2) were able to get to within four points on two occasions in the second half but were unable to recover from a deficit that grew to double digits on several occasions in the second half.
Trailing, 33-26, at the half after shooting just 8-22 from the floor before intermission, the Black and Gold were able to stay in the game until the closing minutes, using a combination of speed and shooting to keep the game within striking distance.
Down 40-29, they got out and ran, getting a three-pointer by Dixon and a transition basket off of a great feed from LaDaris Green to make it a 40-34 contest. Trailing 44-37 with just 13:41 remaining, Dixon would convert on a driving layup and get fouled, the Hornets’ seventh of the half to put them over the limit, and Dixon would make the free throw to complete the three-point play to make it 44-40.
They would get to within four on two other occasions in the second half, but that’s as close as they would come throughout the rest of the contest, as the Hornets would push their lead to as large as 16 points at one point during the ball game to put the game out of reach.
“I thought our defense and offense went sour at the same time. On Wednesday night, our defense went down, but our offense kept us in it,” Ingle said. “It’s also really important that we get some more contributions from our reserve players. Our starters are putting in big minutes and we need our other guys to come in and keep it going on a consistent basis, and so far we haven’t had that.”
The Hornets (1-3) were making their 2010-11 home debut on Saturday evening, and were led by Tramaine Butler, who logged 20 points for Alabama State, who finishes the Challenge at 1-3.
The Owls controlled the game at the outset, scoring the first nine points in the contest before the Hornets came roaring back, going on an 18-1 run on the strength of three-point baskets from Tramaine Butler, Johnson and Ryan Watts to make it 27-18 with 4:09 remaining in the half.
The Hornets were still leading by nine when Markeith Cummings, who finished with 15 points in the game for his 13th consecutive game in double figures, scored the next five points for the Owls, three of them on free throws and another on a thunderous alley-oop dunk off a mid-court lob from Kelvin McConnell, wowing the road crowd and moving the Owls to within six points of the lead, ending a field goal drought of 10:42 for the Owls.
Spencer Dixon established himself as a major factor early, connecting on two layups, the first one on a fast-break to make it 4-0 and the next in a half-court set in which he was able to penetrate and get to the basket to help the Owls obtain the early advantage.
With the outcome still in doubt with 9:51 remaining after one Dixon’s three three-pointers on the night, Alabama State embarked on a 10-2 run over the next 4:24 that included four of the Owls 17 turnovers, tying their season high, as well as five straight missed shots.
Cummings and Andrew Osemhen both had seven rebounds in the contest to lead the team.
For the game, the Owls shot just .380 (19-for-50), a season low.
The next three games the Black and Gold play will also be a part of the Global Sports Hy-Vee Challenge, which pits the Owls, Hornets, the Creighton Blue Jays, Iowa State Cyclones and Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. The lone home game for the Owls during the event will be Monday night’s against Lumberjacks at 7:30 p.m.
