By: by Scott Lipsky
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Game Notes
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Kennesaw State Owls return to the road to end a busy week, traveling to suburban Raleigh to take on their conference rival, the Campbell Camels, at Gilbert Craig Gore Arena on Friday evening. The game will be televised live on Comcast Sports Southeast as the Atlantic Sun Conference Game of the Week.
The Owls (3-11, 1-3 A-Sun) are now fully in the throes of conference season, with all of their remaining games against A-Sun foes. Their mark against their league rivals will determine their seed in the A-Sun Tournament following the conclusion of the regular season.
Their home-and-home series against the Camels (7-6, 1-3 A-Sun) could turn out to be pivotal in that regard, as Campbell not only has the same record in conference as the Owls do a fifth of the way through, they were also picked to finish sixth in the A-Sun, right underneath Kennesaw State, who was picked to finish fifth.
Coming off a split of their home set of games earlier this week against USC Upstate (W, 78-71) and East Tennessee State (L, 69-80), Owls head coach Tony Ingle is poised to polish several areas of his team’s game in preparation for their game against the Camels.
“Rebounding is going to be key for us in these games coming up, we have to rebound the ball better to be certain,” said Ingle of his Owls, who have been out-rebounded in each of their last two games, including their win over USC Upstate. “We’re also going to have to be solid defending in the half court, and with the little time we have to prepare for this game with the travel between Wednesday night’s game and Friday night, our guys will really have to concentrate on what we’re working on with them.”
The Black and Gold have begun to count heavily on one of their newer additions in the paint, sophomore forward Aaron Anderson. A transfer from Central Arizona College along with Owls teammate Mirza Sabic, Anderson has solidified himself as an interior force, grabbing 16 rebounds in the team’s win against USC Upstate before showing off some impressive moves on his way to scoring 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor, primarily in the paint, on Wednesday night against ETSU.
Having Anderson score as well as rebound has made the Owls a more balanced squad offensively, as they had four players score in double figures for just the second time this season on Wednesday evening.
In the Camels, the Owls find a squad that is also looking to rebound from a home loss, as they fell to North Florida, 57-55, on Wednesday night, despite shooting 55 percent from the field and out-rebounding the Ospreys, 29-24. They are currently led by junior guard Lorne Merthie, who averages 12.8 points per contest. Junior forward Eric Griffin is a force inside for the Camels this season, and has emerged as one of the top players in the conference to this point in the season, ranking second in the league with 2.27 blocks per game and also placing in the top-20 in scoring (11.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg).
Friday night’s match-up also holds historical significance of some sort, as it will be the last time the Owls will play at Campbell in a conference game, as the Camels are moving to the Big South Conference beginning with the 2011-12 season.
The Camels hold a 7-2 advantage in the all-time series, having won the last six meetings. Kennesaw State last won against Campbell on Feb. 2, 2007, 74-64 at the KSU Convocation Center. Their last win at Campbell was in their first visit, an 81-77 triumph on Jan. 9, 2006.
Friday night’s game will be televised live on Comcast Sports Southeast, with Matt Stewart and Sonny Smith calling the action. Fans in certain areas will also be able to access the game via espn3.com. The voice of Owls, Craig Corbin, and color analyst and former Owls great Scott Webb will also be calling all of the action on Talk 920 AM and www.talk920.com. Live stats will also be available.
