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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With victory in its grasp on three different occasions, the Kennesaw State men’s basketball team was unable to seal the win and suffered its toughest loss of the season, falling 99-92 to Jacksonville in triple overtime during Atlantic Sun Conference play Thursday at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.
The loss overshadowed a milestone night for senior forward
Markeith Cummings, who scored a game-high 29 points and moved into 10th place on the A-Sun’s all-time scoring list with 1,873 points. Sophomore guard
Delbert Love contributed 25 points, while senior forward
Aaron Anderson recorded his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and collecting 11 rebounds.
The Owls (2-14, 1-3) came up short in their attempt to post back-to-back wins for the first time this season and even their conference record.
Junior guard Keith McDougald came up big multiple times late in the game while leading Jacksonville (8-10, 3-2) with 25 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. McDougald was one of five Dolphins, including four starters, who finished in double figures.
Guard Jarvis Haywood scored 18 points while forward Glenn Powell chipped in with 16, and guard Russell Powell and forward Kordarlo Fleming added 13 and 10 points, respectively.
After trailing 42-34 at halftime and down 57-47 with 12:22 remaining, the Dolphins rallied to take their first lead of the second half at 61-60 with 6:08 to play in regulation. The two teams would exchange leads seven times before the Owls took a one-point lead on a layup by freshman guard
Myles Hamilton and increased their advantage to three points at 70-67 on two made free throws by Cummings with 16 seconds to play.
However, Kennesaw State was unable to hold the lead as McDougald hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds left on the clock and freshman guard #Yonel Brown’s# shot to win the game was off the mark forcing overtime.
After trailing by six points at 76-70 midway through the first overtime, the Owls rallied and took an 81-80 lead on a three-point basket by Love with 1:06 remaining in the period. Following a missed Jacksonville shot, Kennesaw State came away with the rebound and had an opportunity to take time off the clock and extend the lead. However, a turnover gave the ball back to Jacksonville and Russell Powell made one of two free throws to knot the score at 81-81 and force a second overtime.
Heading into the second overtime period and with Brown and Hamilton on the bench after fouling out, Kennesaw State battled and had an opportunity to win the game late in the period, but Anderson was able to make just one of two free throws with four seconds remaining and the game went into a third overtime tied 86-86.
In the final overtime, Jacksonville scored the first points of the period and never trailed, building a seven-point lead at 95-88 on a layup by McDougald to seal the victory.
Cummings and Love led the Owls in the first half, combining for 26 points as they took a 42-34 halftime lead. The duo went 12-for-15 from the field with Cummings scoring 14 points and Love adding 12.
Kennesaw State led by as many as 12 points in the first half before Jacksonville went on a 9-0 run to cut the Owls lead to 35-32 with 1:58 remaining before intermission. However, KSU closed out the period with a 7-2 run to take an eight-point advantage at the break.
After finishing regulation with 26 points, Cummings was held scoreless in the first two overtimes before scoring three points in the third overtime.
Kennesaw State concludes its Florida trip on Saturday when it visits North Florida in a game that begins at 4:30 p.m.
Kennesaw State University is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
