By: KSU Sports Information
Box Score
Postgame Notes
MORAGA, Calif. – Aaron Anderson recorded his third double-double of the season for the Kennesaw State Owls, but in the end it was the effective inside shooting of the Saint Mary’s Gaels that held the evening, as they defeated the Owls, 74-51, on Monday evening at McKeon Pavilion on the campus of Saint Mary’s College.
Delbert Love scored 12 points for the Owls (2-8), who have dropped their sixth consecutive game. He was joined by Anderson, who had 10 points as the only other Owl to score in double figures on the evening.
“I thought we played relatively well for about 28 minutes tonight, but I need to emphasize to our guys that we cannot allow our opponents to have 48 points in the paint and 24 points off of turnovers and expect to win on the road,” Owls head coach Lewis Preston remarked. “We had a very hard time defending inside, and so it will be up to me to find someone who can step up and help Aaron Anderson, who has given us all he has, and play tough defense night in and night out. We also continue to look for that third scorer who can consistently give us the offense we need.”
Saint Mary’s (9-1), led, 35-18 at halftime, and were able to maintain a double-digit league throughout the second half, despite shooting just 4-for-23 for the game from three-point range. During the last 20 minutes of play, they were a scorching hot 15-for-21 on two-point attempts, and never led by less than 14 after halftime.
It wasn’t until halfway through the first half that the Gaels began to pull away. Down, 14-10, with 10:36 left in the period, Love would pull up from just beyond the three-point line and make the second of his four three-pointers of the evening to make it a one point contest. Un-deterred, Saint Mary’s would answer right back, as Clint Steindl would answer with a three of his own just 13 seconds later.
The Black and Gold would go on to commit three turnovers in their next four possessions, after having just seven turnovers throughout the entire game on Saturday at Missouri State. The Gaels, for their part, made their next three shots to extend their lead to 23-13 with 7:12 left in the first half.
Markeith Cummings, who has led the Owls in scoring in five games this season, and came into the evening leading the Atlantic Sun Conference with 18.8 points per game, struggled throughout the evening, going 3-for-12 from the floor and tallying a total of seven points.
The Gaels were led in the scoring column by Stephen Holt, who had 15 points and was joined in double figures by Brad Waldow, who had 13. Matthew Dellavedova had eight assists in the game, with seven of them coming in the first half.
Monday evening’s game was the Owls second as part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. They head to Las Vegas for the final two games of the event, where they will take on Tennessee Tech on Thursday at Orleans Arena at 5:30 p.m. EST.
