By: KSU Sports Information
Box Score
Postgame Notes
DELAND, Fla. – Aaron Anderson had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double on Monday evening, but the Kennesaw State Owls fell behind by as many as 23 points in the first half and didn’t recover, dropping a, 75-59, decision to the Stetson Hatters in their second straight road game on Monday evening.
Anderson was one of three Owls (3-20, 0-11 Atlantic Sun Conference) to score in double figures, with Markeith Cummings scoring 19 points to lead the Owls for the second straight game.
Kennesaw State led the Hatters (8-14, 5-6 A-Sun) early, and were up, 9-6, with 14:57 go in the first half before missing their next seven field goal attempts while Stetson went on a, 25-9, run over the next 6:47 to separate themselves from the pack. The Hatters went just 7-for-16 during that stretch, but the Owls turned the ball over four times during that span and surrendered six offensive rebounds to the Hatters, who had a, 49-33, advantage on the glass during the evening. The offensive miscues were a microcosm of a tough first half for the Owls, in which they committed 11 of their 17 turnovers in the contest.
“I’m disappointed that they threw the first punch tonight and collectively as a group we stayed down," Owls head coach Lewis Preston said. "We played a lot harder in the second half, we just keep doing a lot of things are self-inflicted that are hurting us, we need to continue to work at improving this group’s basketball IQ and we’ll address that here in the coming days.”
The Owls trailed, 42-22, at halftime, and made several attempts to cut into the Hatters lead and give themselves a chance in the closing minutes. Behind, 60-44, with 8:10 to play, Cummings would find a cutting Anderson in the paint, who finished a reverse layup to make it a 14-point game. That would be the first of four straight times over the next 2:26 in which Preston’s squad would cut the deficit to 14 points, only to see Stetson answer right back at the other end.
Down, 70-55 with 3:21 to go, the Black and Gold would make one last stand, scoring on back to possessions culminating in a layup in traffic by Markeith Cummings that made it, 70-59, with 1:47 left. The Owls full-court pressure would force a Hatter turnover, but the Owls would turn it over underneath the basket, ending their late threat.
Stetson, who snapped a five-game slide with the win despite shooting just 39.7 percent from the floor, was led by Chris Perez, who had 22 points and eight rebounds. Their performance from the field was just slightly better than the Owls, who shot 38.7 percent.
Anderson’s double-double was his ninth of the season, the most in the A-Sun by any player. He also now has 12 double-digit rebound games this season, also the best in the league.
Spencer Dixon led all players in the game with seven assists while recording four steals, despite struggling to a 3-13 shooting night.
Coaches from both squads wore sneakers on the sidelines on Monday night in recognition of cancer awareness.
The Owls play six of their last eight regular season games at home, next taking the floor on Saturday, when they host East Tennessee State at 3:00 p.m.
