By: by Scott Lipsky
Box Score Post Game Notes
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Kennesaw State Owls fell short in triple-overtime on Sunday afternoon, dropping a, 90-88, decision to the North Florida Ospreys at the UNF Center. Markeith Cummings led the Owls with 27 points, while LaDaris Green had his seventh straight double-double, posting 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The Owls (8-20, 6-12 Atlantic Sun Conference) did not trail in either of the first two overtimes, and were seconds away from wrapping things up in the second extra session. Leading, 81-78, after a Kelvin McConnell free throw gave the Black and Gold a three-point lead with 18 seconds left, the Ospreys (11-18, 8-10 A-Sun) missed a pair of three-point attempts, but were able to come up with the offensive rebound each time. David Jeune grabbed the second offensive board and kicked it out to Jerron Granberry, who drained a three from the right corner to tie it up with just over a second left, eventually sending the game into a third extra session when the Owls couldn’t convert on a last-second heave.
North Florida, who with the win clinched a bid to the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, finally jumped out in front in the first minute of the third overtime. Aaron Anderson would be fouled and make a pair of free throws to tie things up at 83 with 3:57 left.
The Ospreys jumped ahead by as many as four points in the third overtime, with the Owls staying close and giving themselves a shot to win it or send it into an unprecedented fourth overtime.
After McConnell made a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to make it an, 89-88, game, the Owls fouled Parker Smith, who made one of two from the free throw line. The Owls would inbound the ball with 3.3 seconds left after calling an immediate timeout, but they did not get a shot off, the marathon with a disappointing, third consecutive loss.
“I’m extremely proud of the guys, we played really well and came out and made some great defensive plays and grabbed some big rebounds,” Owls head coach Tony Ingle said. “As I told our players after the game, we had our chances to win and over the course of 55 minutes of basketball, they made one more play than we did and so they came away victorious. Whether it was on offense or defense, a shot or a rebound, tonight came down to one possession, and we were on the short end.”
It looked for awhile like the game would not need extra time to be resolved, as the Owls, who first took the lead 23 seconds into the second half after going to halftime tied, 37-37, went on a 7-0 run, capped off by a Spencer Dixon layup after McConnell picked up a loose ball and passed it to the junior point guard, who drove into the lane and laid the ball in uncontested to make it 57-47 with 7:21 left in regulation.
Still leading by 10 with 4:50 remaining in the game after Matt Heramb’s fourth three-pointer of the game made it 64-54, North Florida immediately woke up, going on a 12-1 run over the next 3:35, five of those points from Jerron Granberry, who led all scorers with 28 points.
Now down, 67-66, Dixon, who was one of four Owls to finish in double figures with 11 points, drove to the hole and made a pull-up jumper from the right side as a UNF defender descended on him, giving the Owls the lead back with under 50 seconds left in regulation.
The Osprey’s Parker Smith would tie it up and conclude the scoring in regulation play, going to the foul line with 36 seconds on the clock and making one out of two. A Cummings jump shot at the buzzer wouldn’t fall, and the two teams were headed for overtime.
The triple-overtime was the first in the Owls history as a Division I program. It was the second time this season that they went into overtime, the first time coming at Southern Illinois Edwardsville, when they lost a, 77-76, double overtime decision.
Heramb finished up the evening with 16 points, his career high as an Owl, thanks to 6-for-10 shooting, including going 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. He also nine rebounds and three assists to his solid performance.
Sunday’s loss puts the Owls in a tie for seventh place in the A-Sun standings with Campbell. They are currently a half game in front of Stetson for the eighth and final spot in the A-Sun Tournament. The Black and Gold would clinch a spot in the tournament with any combination of two wins or two Stetson losses, the Hatters visiting Florida Gulf Coast on Monday evening.
The Owls wrap up their regular season this coming week with a pair of home games. First up is Lipscomb, who visit the Black and Gold on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the KSU Convocation Center, followed by Belmont, who play the Owls on Senior Night, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
