By: by Scott Lipsky
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KENNESAW, Ga. - The Kennesaw State Owls return home to the KSU Convocation Center for the first time in nearly two weeks on Monday evening, when they take on the Campbell Camels in a crucial Atlantic Sun Conference game at 7:30 p.m.
The Owls (5-17, 3-9 A-Sun) will be looking to snap a five-game slide on Monday evening and will look to put themselves in prime position for a second straight berth in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. They enter Monday a game behind Stetson (5-9 A-Sun) for the eighth and final spot in the A-Sun tournament. Monday night being the first of three straight home games for the Black and Gold, these upcoming games will be a great time to pick up some ground in the A-Sun. While they currently find themselves in the ninth position in the conference, they are only two and a half games out of a tie for fifth, with Campbell and Stetson being two of those teams in front of them making a trip to Kennesaw in the coming week.
“Now is a crucial time of the season for us,” Owls head coach Tony Ingle said. “With these three home games coming up, it’s a chance for us to show our guys that they are able to win three games in a row, which is what they will need to do in the conference tournament in order for us to make it to the NCAA Tournament. We played really well against USC Upstate last week and we fell just short. We’re going to play hard and work to come out on top.”
Kennesaw State was solid defensively in their last game, a tough, 59-54 defeat at USC Upstate, a game in which they held the Spartans to just 35 percent shooting from the field. The 59 points they allowed were also the least that they’ve allowed in a game this season. It was their own struggles from the floor, however, that kept them from entering the winner’s circle once again, as they shot just 37.5 percent from the floor, including 2-for-18 from three-point range. LaDaris Green had his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 15 points to go along with 14 rebounds.
In order to be successful against Campbell (11-12, 5-8 A-Sun), the Owls could use a similar performance by not only Green, but also sophomore Aaron Anderson, who put together one of his best game’s of the season in their visit to the Camels on Jan. 7. Anderson posted 18 points and had 15 rebounds in their, 65-52, defeat, their sixth straight loss to the Camels. The Owls led that game at the half, 25-19, after holding the Camels to just 22.2 percent (8-36) shooting in the first half. The Camels came out of the locker room refreshed, however, shootin 16-for-27 over the last 20 minutes of play, and were able to pull away from the Owls over the last three minutes of the game, making 7-of-8 free throws to seal it.
The Camels wrap up their stretch of five straight road games on Monday night, and are currently 1-3 on their journey away from Buies Creek, N.C. Most recently, they are coming off of a, 63-45, decision at the hands of Mercer on Saturday evening. Prior to that, they fell, 71-58 at Jacksonville on Jan. 31.
The Camels feature the reigning A-Sun Coach of the Year in Robbie Laing and Defensive Player of the Year in Junard Hartley. Hartley, a senior, played high school ball with Owls senior captain Kelvin McConnell at Whitefield Academy, and is one of the most complete players on the Camels, ranking second in the conference in assists (5.00 apg) and ninth in steals (1.43 spg).
Junior forward Eric Griffin is the leading scorer for the Camels, averaging 12.4 points per game, also leading the team in rebounding, ranking seventh in the A-Sun (6.8 rpg). Junior guard Lorne Merthie is the only other Camel in double figures, averaging 11.2 points per contest.
The Camels carry into Monday a 3-8 record on the road this season, but one of their wins away from Buies Creek came at Auburn of the SEC, taking down the Tigers, 61-54, on Nov. 20.
Monday night’s game can be heard on Talk 920 AM and www.talk920.com, with play-by-play voice Craig Corbin and color analyst and Owls great Scott Webb calling the action. The Atlantic Sun Conference’s subscription video streaming service, Asun.tv, will carry the game live, with Dave Albert calling the play-by-play. Live stats will also be available.
