By: by Scott Lipsky
NASHVILLE – Kennesaw State will look to wrap up the regular season on a high note in the Music City on Saturday night when they play the Belmont Bruins at the Curb Event Center.
The Owls (12-18, 7-12 A-Sun), have lost six straight games, their longest losing streak of the season, while Belmont, in a three-way tie for second place in the conference, has won seven of its last eight contests and is a game out of first place.
The Bruins (18-11, 13-6 A-Sun) defeated the Owls, 75-70, in overtime in the first meeting between the teams in Kennesaw back in December and lead the all-time series, 6-2, which includes a perfect, 3-0, mark in Nashville.
The Owls saw redshirt freshman LaDaris Green explode for his third double-double of the season, a 13-point, 12-rebound performance against Lipscomb on Thursday night as he provided a solid presence in the paint. Markeith Cummings registered another 20-point effort with a team-high 22, furthering the argument that the Owls possess one of the top freshman combinations in the country.
Tony Ingles’ squad will have to pay close attention to the Bruins’ top trio of senior forward Keaton Belcher, sophomore forward Mick Hedgepeth and freshman guard Ian Clark. The three have provided much of the jolt in Belmont’s offense, which ranks third in the league at 72.8 points per game. Clark is eighth in the A-Sun, registering 14.8 points per game, while Hedgepeth and Belcher also rank in the top-25 in scoring within the conference, at 11.7 and 9.4 points per game, respectively.
It will be imperative for the Owls to win the rebounding battle on Saturday night. They currently rank seventh in the A-Sun at 35.6 rebounds per game, and while the Bruins are third in the conference in that category, they are averaging 37.1 per contest, making the two fairly evenly matched in that department. During Kennesaw State’s six-game winning streak, they outrebounded five out of six of their opponents.
Kennesaw State is the No. 8 seed in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament, but its opponent is still up in the air as four teams are still in contention for the regular season championship and No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Owls do know that they will play on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Macon, Ga., at the University Center on the campus of Mercer.
Jacksonville is the only team that can control their fate as they have a one game lead over Campbell, Belmont and Lipscomb and can win the regular season championship with a victory at home on Saturday against East Tennessee State.
The Owls game on Saturday evening will conclude their regular season play. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. EST and can be heard live on 920 am 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 Peachtree Orthopedic Clinic Pregame Show beginning at 7:45 p.m.
