By: by Scott Lipsky
Box Score Photo Gallery (Courtesy: Atlantic Sun Conference)
Owls postgame press conference (Courtesy: Atlantic Sun Conference)
Postgame Notes
MACON, Ga. – Markeith Cummings lived up to form as the leading scorer in the Atlantic Sun Conference, scoring 20 points to lead all scorers, but the Kennesaw State Owls fell short against the Belmont Bruins, 72-57, in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon.
The Owls (8-23, 6-14 A-Sun), the number eight seed in the tournament for the second straight season, were unable to repeat their feat from 2010, when they beat top-seeded Lipscomb in the opening game of the tournament. Kennesaw State led for most of the first half, jumping ahead, 12-10, and remaining in front of the number one seeded Bruins (28-4, 19-1 A-Sun) until a free throw tied it at 26 with 3:28 remaining in the half.
Belmont would take the lead for good with 1:51 left in the half, led, 35-28, at halftime, and would stay out in front by double digits for most of the second half to seal the win.
“I was very concerned about this game after how we played against them on Saturday evening,” said Owls head coach Tony Ingle, referring to their, 88-41, defeat to the Bruins in the regular season finale. “My hat goes off to the players, they stepped up and accepted the challenge that was in front of them. I think you could see that in the first half. We didn’t finish the half the way we wanted to, and that hurt us, but we were able to stay in the game.”
The Black and Gold were able to put the A-Sun regular season champions on the defensive early on, thanks to some clutch outside shooting by Spencer Dixon and Kelvin McConnell in the opening minutes. Dixon’s three from the top of the key gave the Owls their first points and their first lead of the game, 3-2. He was followed less than two minutes later from deep on the left wing by McConnell, who ends his career as the second-leading three-point shooter in Owls history with 212 made from behind the arc.
LaDaris Green also helped the caused early on, scoring all five of his points in the first half. The A-Sun’s leading rebounder showed he could shoot, as well, as fellow big man Aaron Anderson found him at the top of the key, and, wide open, hit a pull-up three to give the Owls a, 15-10, advantage.
Early on, whenever Belmont would attempt to cut into the Owls lead, the Black and Gold would answer. After an Ian Clark three cut the lead to two, Dixon would make the Owls fourth, and last, three of the game, before picking up a loose ball near midcourt and flinging it ahead to a sprinting Anderson, who would finish the play with a two-handed slam, giving the Owls their biggest lead of the game, 23-16.
The Bruins would come flying back, however, taking advantage of the Owls struggles to close the first half. Leading, 26-22, with 4:22 to go in the half, the Black and Gold would stumble into the locker room, shooting just 0-3 from the field, committing four turnovers and allowing Belmont to corral five offensive rebounds during that span, resulting in a, 35-28, deficit entering the locker room.
Both teams would start out 3-6 from the field in the second half, but the Bruins would also make three free throws and a pair of three-pointers to build their lead to 13 points, 46-33, with 14:57 remaining, to start to pull away.
Despite the loss, Cummings, who led the A-Sun in scoring during the regular season at 18.2 points per game on his way to All A-Sun Second Team honors, thought there was a major difference in the way the Owls played on Wednesday as compared to their last meeting with the Bruins just four days earlier.
“We talked at practice this week, basically about trying to build from Saturday. We just wanted to put it behind us and just go out and play,” said Cummings. “We came out today and showed that we can play.”
Dixon joined Cummings in double figures with 15 points, while Green scored just five points, but pulled down 10 rebounds and had four blocks.
Belmont, who won despite being held to 36.8 percent (21-57) shooting on Wednesday, was led by Clark, who had 14 points, and Mick Hedgepeth, who had 12.
