By: by Jason Hanes
Box Score
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Markeith Cummings fell a rebound short of a double-double, scoring a team-high 10 points and pulling down nine rebounds as the Kennesaw State men's basketball team fell, 66-45, to East Tennessee State on Friday night in an Atlantic Sun Conference game.
"The one word that really comes to mind about tonight is determination," KSU head coach Tony Ingle said. "ETSU played like a team determined to win. We didn't play with that same type of determination."
The Owls (12-14, 7-8) scored the first two points of the game just three seconds in as Jon-Michael Nickerson took the opening tip from LaDaris green and sprinted in for a lay-up. From that point, ETSU took the action to the Owls, scoring the next 13 points to pull away early.
"One of the things that we really talked about was getting off to a good start," said Coach Ingle. "We're a young team and our first few shots while we were running our offense didn't fall. ETSU played a great game and showed a lot of class and sportsmanship. They deserved to win this game."
The Owls cut the lead to eight, 13-5, on a Green 3-pointer, but that would be the last time the ETSU lead would be in single digits the rest of the night. Justin Tubbs scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, connecting on five 3-pointers in the process, to propel the Bucs to a 37-20 lead at the half.
KSU tightened up defensively in the second half, allowing ETSU to connect on just two of its first 13 shots from the field. Still, the Owls could only get within 12, 39-27, and couldn't take advantage of chances to get the lead within single digits.
"I kept telling the guys at every media timeout that we just needed two stops on defense and score on two possessions and we'd be right back in the game," said Coach Ingle. "Then that turned into the next media timeout, then the next media timeout. We just couldn't quite get there."
ETSU (14-12, 10-5) would eventually lead by as many as 26, before the Owls rallied to cut the final deficit to 21, 66-45.
Green finished with a team-high 11 rebounds to go with seven points. Nickerson chipped in eight points for the Owls.
Isiah Brown scored 14 points and nabbeb a career-best 15 rebounds to go with four assists, four steals, and three blocks. Micah Williams scored 13 for the Bucs, who moved into a four-way tie for first in the A-Sun.
KSU will be back in action this Monday when it takes on Campbell in an A-Sun contest. Tipoff from Buies Creek, N.C., is set for 7 p.m. and will air on 920AM - WGKA with Jason Hanes and Scott Webb on the call.
