By: KSU Sports Information
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Postgame Notes
KENNESAW, Ga. – Aaron Anderson tied his career high with 19 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead four Kennesaw State Owls in double figures, as they charged back from a late double-digit lead to fall short against the North Florida Ospreys, 76-68, on Monday night at the KSU Convocation Center in an Atlantic Sun Conference match-up.
The Owls (3-18, 0-9 A-Sun) trailed, 42-30, at the halftime despite shooting 53.8 percent from the floor against the Ospreys (10-12, 4-5 A-Sun) in the first half, and were down by as many as 18 points in the second half before a 19-6 run by Kennesaw State put them to within 69-64 with 2:40 to play. They would move to within three points with just over a minute left after a three-pointer by Delbert Love, who had 15 points on the evening, and a free throw by Spencer Dixon, who scored 12 and dished out seven assists.
That would be as close as they would come the rest of the way, as UNF would score the last five points of the game to seal the outcome.
“I’m disappointed in the outcome, I am definitely not disappointed in the energy and enthusiasm and effort we got from our guys, especially over the course of the last 10 minutes," Owls head coach Lewis Preston said. "We just need to take the last 10 minutes of the game, make that how we play during the first 10 minutes of the game, and then put together a full 40 minutes with that level of energy.”
Were it not for the scorching hot play of Anderson in the early going, the Black and Gold may not have had the opportunity to make a second half comeback. Their 12-point halftime deficit was only that and not bigger thanks to the junior’s 7-for-8 shooting in the first half for 14 points to go along with five rebounds. Known for his interior game, he also showed his offensive versatility by draining a mid-range jumper from the right wing during his hot first half, in which he made his first five shots.
It was all the Owls could do to try and keep pace with the Ospreys, who made 17 of their first 25 shots of the game, while the Owls connected on 12 of their first 19. The visitors would have two players score in double figures in the first half, with Travis Wallace scoring 14 of his 27 points during the first 20 minutes of the game and Parker Smith adding 12, helping their squad to a lead as large as 16 before the break.
Trailing, 58-45, with 9:35 remaining, North Florida scored five points in a sequence that looked like the knockout punch for the Owls, as an emphatic dunk by Matt Sauey was followed by an Owls turnover and a three-point play by Jerron Granberry, giving the Ospreys an 18-point advantage.
Still down, 65-58, with 6:44 left, Preston’s squad made their first of two late rallies, first going on a 10-3 run that began with a Spencer Dixon three and was continued with a pair of layups by Love and another by Anderson. Love would drive from half court into traffic and laid it in with his left hand to make it a, 68-60, game. A steal near half court on the other end by Cummings would result in a pair of free throws by the junior to make it a six-point game. His 17-point effort on Monday evening moved into third place on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,454.
With the lead back to seven and 2:56 remaining, Love took a pass from Dixon on the left side and drilled his first and only three of the game, making it a, 71-67, contest with 1:34 left.
The Black and Gold were still down by just four with 41 seconds to play but three free throws and a late basket by UNF would be enough to snap their four-game slide.
The late baskets by Love were a testament to the kind of development the Cleveland, Ohio native has experienced since arriving in Kennesaw.
“When I came in this season, I was thrust into a big role, and coach prepared me for that,” Love commented. “I was handling the ball a lot more, it’s given me a lot more confidence to make the right decisions and hit the open man when I have to or shoot it when I have a good look.”
Kennesaw State shot 50.0 percent from the field on the night, while out-rebounding the Ospreys, 33-28. Love added 15 points for the Owls and was joined in double figures by Markeith Cummings, who had 17.
UNF was led by Wallace, who scored 27 points off the bench on 12-for-16 shooting, while fellow reserve Jimmy Williams dished out eight assists for the Ospreys. Smith ended the night with 18 points.
The double-double by Anderson was his seventh on the season, the most in the A-Sun, and his second in a row after notching 17 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday evening against Jacksonville.
The Owls take the court next on Saturday evening, when they visit the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles at 5:15 p.m.
Postgame Quotes From Coach Preston:
“We’re right there, the frustrating thing is that as a coach you have to remain patient. I thought we did a good job tonight. Usually when you out-rebound a team by five and shoot 50 percent at home you expect to win, but unfortunately that didn’t happen tonight. They knocked down some timely threes, so I have to give North Florida a lot of credit.”
“I thought we took a step forward, we played with a lot more energy than we did on Saturday night. One of the things we need to do as a staff is to make sure we continue to play with that energy level on a consistent basis.”
“It’s never easy when you give a team an 18-point lead, what I told them when we fell behind was that we needed to play the rest of the game the way we’re capable of, and we did that. Once we see the tape we’ll see a glaring difference between the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes. We need to take those last 10 minutes and turn it into how we play for all 40 minutes.”
“As a first-year coach, you can’t ask more out of two guys than what Delbert and Aaron give you on a nightly basis. They’re willing to play the big minutes that we demand of them, and they’re willing to sacrifice their bodies. Spencer Dixon and Markeith Cummings, too, they have been playing a lot of minutes with regularity, which is what we need out of them."
“I’ve got some guys that are banged up and worn down right now, the fortunate part for us is that we have a few days to get ourselves healthy, get our legs back under us. The important thing for us as coaches is to make sure we don’t go too hard on them these next few days in practice, that we let them get healthy. We also need to make sure that we help maintain the high level of confidence that we’re seeing in Aaron and Delbert.”
“A lot of our perimeter defense has to start with Delbert and Spencer and I thought they did a very good job with that tonight, North Florida just had some shots fall, Mirza [Sabic] did too. Overall, our guys responded well to the physicality of the game, I liked the fact that we didn’t back down, they threw punches and then we punched back.”
“We were able to score any time we ran tonight, but we had 12 turnovers, and some of them were self-inflicted, especially in transition, which comes down to making better decisions when we have opportunities.”
