By: by Scott Lipsky
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MACON, Ga. – Markeith Cummings scored 30 points on 11-for-16 shooting and LaDaris Green had his fifth straight double-double, but the Kennesaw State Owls fell just short on Tuesday night, dropping a, 57-55, road decision to the Mercer Bears at the University Center.
After pulling to within two points on five occasions, all with less than 10 minutes left, the Owls (8-18, 6-10 A-Sun) were finally able to even things up with 2:50 to go in regulation. Brian Mills of Mercer (12-15, 9-7 A-Sun) would miss a pair of free throws, giving the Owls a chance to tie or take the lead, when Cummings rebounded a missed three by Spencer Dixon and made a one-handed jumper over a Mercer defender that tied the game, and also gave Cummings 30 points for the second time this season.
His potentially game-saving play would be overshadowed by Mercer’s next possession, however, one that encompassed 1:57 and included three missed Bear shots and three offensive rebounds before Langston Hall made a jumper with 53 seconds to play to give the home team the lead back.
Having won the last two games in the closing second, the Owls were not giving up on their chance at four straight wins, and it was a broken play that resulted in Cummings recovering a loose ball near the top of the key before missing on a jumper, only to have LaDaris Green rebound it and lay it back in that tied the game once again, this time making it 55-55 with just 15 seconds to play.
Out of a timeout, Mills, who led the Bears with 16 points on the evening, would drive to the basket and lay it in, giving the Black and Gold one last chance to pull off their heroics from their last two games. It was for naught, however, as with just 3.3 seconds left their inbounds pass was intercepted and the final seconds wound down, this time with the Owls on the business end of a nail-biter.
“I’m really proud of how the guy played tonight, especially after we fell behind early. We really kept our composure and played our best defense that we’ve played in the second half this season,” Owls head coach Tony Ingle said. “It was our turnovers and all of the second chances that we gave Mercer on their offensive end that hurt us. With a game tied and less than three minutes left, you give a team four opportunities on one possession to score, and they’re successful, they’re probably going to win the ball game, and that’s what happened tonight.”
After trailing for all but 1:19 of the first half, the Owls (8-18, 6-10 A-Sun) were able to recover from a 31-23 halftime deficit, even after falling behind by 10 points at the start of the second half, shooting a cool 54.5 percent in the second half after making just 34.6 of their shots during the first 20 minutes. That was thanks in large part to the spectacular play of Cummings, who scored 11 of the team’s first 18 points after halftime and also added an assist to Kelvin McConnell during that span.
Still trailing, 42-34, with 11:46 remaining in the game, the Black and Gold really started to cut into the lead that Mercer (12-15, 9-7 A-Sun) had built, going on a 7-0 run to make it 42-41, Cummings scoring five those points, including a breathtaking coast-to-coast layup that made it a four-point game.
Green came up big for the Black and Gold as well, posting 13 points and 14 rebounds, giving him not only his fifth straight double-double but also his ninth of the year, the most by far in the A-Sun. Cummings’ performance was the second of the year in which he scored at least 30 points, and the fourth of his career. It was also the 12th game of the year in which he scored at least 20 points, tying him with Adnan Hodzic for the conference lead.
With the loss, the Owls remain in seventh place in the conference standings, and are now just one game in front of Campbell and Stetson, who are currently tied for the eighth and final spot in the standings.
Tuesday night’s game was the first of three straight games on the road for the Owls, as they travel to the Sunshine State to take on Jacksonville on Friday at 7:15 p.m., then follow that up with a road game against North Florida on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
