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KENNESAW, Ga. – The two Kennesaw State men’s basketball seniors went out just as they came in,
Aaron Anderson recording a double-double and
Markeith Cummings scoring 21 points, as the two enjoyed one final home game at the KSU Convocation Center in a 70-55 loss to Atlantic Sun Conference foe Lipscomb.
“I feel bad that these guys have to go out this way,” Kennesaw State head coach
Lewis Preston said. “Sometimes the road in life is hard. And I hope the life lesson these two take is that when life throws you punches, you can either stay down, or you can get up and fight. And I hope one thing they take from me is to always keep fighting.
“I’ve been happy to coach both of them and I want to help them get to wherever they need to get to. I think the most important thing for them is to get to the second weekend in May and graduate. The athletic accolades only last for so long, but graduation stays with you forever.”
The double-double was the 10
th this season for Anderson (Tucson, Arizona/Central Arizona College), who is tops among active A-Sun players with 24 career double-doubles. Cummings (Birmingham, Ala./Beach HS) added to his Kennesaw State (3-24, 2-13 A-Sun) career-points record with his 21 against Lipscomb (11-15, 6-9), giving the senior 2,026 total points.
Lipscomb started off the contest with eight straight points in the first three minutes of action before freshman
Nigel Pruitt (Potomac, Md./Bullis School) put the Owls on the scoreboard with a 10-footer to make it 8-2 Bison, kicking off a 7-0 KSU run.
Delbert Love (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward HS) followed up Pruitt’s field goal with a three-pointer after a LU turnover to make it a three-point game. Cummings then sank his first bucket of the afternoon with a layup from a Love assists to cut the Lipscomb lead to just one, 8-7.
Cummings went on lead the Owls to their first lead of the ballgame shortly thereafter at the 10:34 mark of the first half with a three-pointer to set the score at 13-12 Owls.
Brandon Dawson (Atlanta, Ga./Tucker HS) then extended the advantage to three before Cummings connected on two free throws to give KSU its largest lead of the game at 21-16.
But in the final 3:25 of the first half with the game tied at 23, Lipscomb ended the period on a 10-3 run to take a 33-26 halftime lead.
Out of the break Love cut it back to seven with a jumper from Aaron Anderson and Cummings made it a two-possession game with a slam to make it 40-35 with 14:35 to play. But another big Bison offensive run put the visitors up by 13 as the Owls never managed to recover, taking the 70-55 loss.
Cummings led KSU with his team-high 21 points as Anderson scored 10 to go with his game-best 11 rebounds. Love was the third Owl in double-figures with his 11 points on a pair of three-pointers.
“It was great to have my family out there with me and it was just nice to see the support,” said Anderson of his final home game. “I didn’t want to get out of character heading into it; I just wanted to play my game. We didn’t finish up like we wanted to and it really started to sink in when I fouled out. It was tough.”
“It was great and I’ll always remember it as something I accomplished in my lifetime,” said Cummings of his countless accolades in a Kennesaw State jersey. “Now I’m just going to finish strong and focus on graduating come May.”
The Owls will have two road appearances remaining on the schedule, starting this Thursday, Feb. 28 at Stetson.
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State men’s basketball news follow the team on Twitter
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOwlsMBB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.
Kennesaw State University is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
