By: by Scott Lipsky
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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Kennesaw State Owls escape the snowy weather in central Georgia for the next few days when they travel to the Sunshine state to take on a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference foes. First up is the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Friday evening at 7:05 p.m at Alico Arena.
Following a six-day break between games that had the Owls (3-12, 1-4 A-Sun) weathering an uncharacteristic winter storm, the Black and Gold are excited to get back on the court and continue their conference schedule, which is 25 percent completed to this point.
“Conference play is kicking up right now, and it’s really important that we start to hunker down on defense and let what we do defensively create our offense,” Owls junior guard Spencer Dixon said. “Defense in road games is especially important, because it’s always a challenge to play on someone else’s home court, and we need to keep our level of concentration high throughout the entire game to come out on top.”
Despite getting off to a slow start in conference play, which will determine their seeding in the A-Sun Tournament the first week of March, the Owls have a lot of reason to feel that good times are ahead for them. After getting off to a 1-6 start in the A-Sun last season, the Owls reeled off six consecutive wins to put them right in the thick of the conference race. Four of those wins came over Florida Gulf Coast (3-11, 0-5 A-Sun) and Stetson last season, a trend they are hoping will continue this week.
Head coach Tony Ingle’s squad needs to look no further than their current squad, however, to have optimism. Their two highest scorers, Dixon and sophomore Markeith Cummings, have combined so far this season for an average of 30.9 points per contest, good for second in the A-Sun among scoring duos, even after Dixon’s season-low two points in their last game at Campbell on Jan. 7. On the boards, sophomore Aaron Anderson is coming off of a season-best 18 points and 15 rebounds at Campbell, and is now tied for the league lead in rebounding at 8.3 per game.
“It’s great to watch Aaron play. He works super hard, and he’s someone we’ve been able to count on to pull through with a big play when we need it,” Ingle said of Anderson. “I’ve never seen go up for a rebound with two hands the way that he does, the way that we teach players to do it. He’s helped us a lot with his rebounding and with everything else that he brings to the court.”
In Florida Gulf Coast, the Owls find a team that is still looking for their first conference win this season. The Eagles are currently in their fourth season of NCAA Division I re-classification, which the Owls completed following the 2008-09 season. They are coming off an, 84-65, loss at East Tennessee State on Jan. 8, and have not played since, as their scheduled road game against USC Upstate on Jan. 10 was postponed due to weather conditions.
Despite their recent struggles, the Eagles do boast some of the premiere talent in the conference, as head coach Dave Balza, the only head coach in the program’s history, as he has had players named to the A-Sun’s All Freshman Team in each of the last two years in sophomore forward Anthony Banks and junior Reggie Chambers, who has since transferred. Banks has joined forces with senior guard Reed Baker, who began his collegiate career at Michigan, with the two averaging 14.8 and 14.4 points per game, respectively, both ranking in the top-10 in the conference in scoring.
The Owls hold a, 4-2, advantage in the all-time series, which began in 2007-08 upon FGCU’s ascent to the NCAA Division I ranks and membership in the A-Sun, having swept last season’s home-and-home series, 69-68 in Fort Myers and 77-70 in Kennesaw. Cummings will be glad to return to Alico Arena, having scored 30 points in last season’s victory on Jan. 22, their first ever win when visiting the Eagles. Banks scored in double figures in both games against the Owls last season, including an 18-point performance in their home loss.
Tip-off on Friday evening is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Fans can hear all of the action on Talk 920 AM and www.talk920.com with the voice of the Owls, Craig Corbin, and color analyst and Owls great Scott Webb. Subscribers to A-Sun.tv can watch the game via internet streaming. Live stats will also be available.
