By: by Scott Lipsky
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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State Owls will look to extend their streak of consecutive wins to three on Thursday evening when they take on the North Florida Ospreys at 7:30 p.m. at the KSU Convocation Center.
The Owls (5-12, 3-4 Atlantic Sun Conference) return home following two wins in the state of Florida against A-Sun opponents, defeating Florida Gulf Coast, 81-70, on Friday evening and Stetson, 63-62, on a buzzer-beating layup by Spencer Dixon on Sunday afternoon. Now, they host two teams from the Sunshine State this weekend, beginning Thursday evening with the Ospreys (6-12, 3-4 A-Sun), followed by the Jacksonville Dolphins on Saturday evening.
On top of just winning the games this past weekend, the Black and Gold showed several signs that they are elevating their level of play. In their win over Florida Gulf Coast, they won the rebounding battle for the first time this season in a win, while their triumph over Stetson on Sunday was their first of the season in which they trailed at the half. Owls sophomore forward LaDaris Green imposed his will in the paint, as well, grabbing 13 rebounds at FGCU and 10 at Stetson, blocking an Owls Division I program record five blocks against the Hatters.
“We’re fighting for consistency right now. In order to have a good, solid basketball team, we have to continuously play at the level that we’ve played at and continue to improve,” Owls head coach Tony Ingle said. “It’s imperative that our defense continue to get better, because that’s we’re going to keep winning games even if we’re not always shooting well or scoring a ton of points. I expect a hard-fought game on Thursday night, we always seem to have a good battle with North Florida. They’re a physical team and they’ve played some of the upper echelon teams in the A-Sun very tough this season.”
In North Florida, the Owls are getting a squad that enters Thursday evening tied with the Black and Gold in the A-Sun rankings, making this match-up all the more crucial as it relates to seeding in March’s A-Sun Championship. Their season is similar to the Owls in that they had a big win early, in their case at Wyoming on Nov. 18, and then proceeded to struggle, dropping nine of 10 games at one point. They had some stiff challenges during the non-conference season, playing five teams who were ranked in the top-25 nationally at the time they played them. Most recently, they are coming off of a, 65-59, home win over USC Upstate on Saturday, a game in which four Ospreys scored in double figures, led by Parker Smith with 16 points.
The Ospreys have a relatively veteran squad, starting one senior, one junior and three sophomores, while they carry a total of just two freshmen on their roster. They are led in scoring by super-sub Smith, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard who is averaging 11.9 points per game while having not started a game this season. He is joined by fellow sophomore, 6-foot-4 swing man Jerron Granberry (11.1 ppg) as the two players on the squad who are averaging double figures in scoring this season.
There is a strong history between the Owls and Ospreys, who were rivals in the Peach Belt Conference at the Division II level before both programs moved up to Division I and joined the A-Sun beginning with the 2005-06 season.
Overall, the Black and Gold have a 16-10 advantage in the all-time series record. As a Division I match-up, the team holds a 6-4 advantage, holding a 3-2 edge in the KSU Convocation Center, whose opening coincided with the Owls ascent to Division I.
North Florida swept last season’s home-and-home series, winning both contests by a margin of 66-60, their last meeting coming in Kennesaw on Feb. 20 of last year. Markeith Cummings and Spencer Dixon had identical stat lines in the last match-up, each posting 16 points, four rebounds and two assists in their, 66-60, loss in Kennesaw. Cummings had a 23-point effort against the Ospreys on Jan. 10, also adding six rebounds and five assists in their close loss.
Fans can listen to all of the action on Thursday evening on Talk 920 AM and www.talk920.com, with play-by-play voice Craig Corbin and color analyst and Owls great Scott Webb on the mic. The A-Sun’s subscription streaming service, A-Sun.tv, will provide live streaming of the game. Live stats will also be available.
