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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Kennesaw State men's basketball team gave No. 1 Lipscomb everything it had in Monday night's quarterfinal matchup, nearly mounting a double-digit comeback in the second half before ultimately falling to the Bisons 86-71.
 
How it happened: The Owls (6-26, 3-13) hung tough with top-seeded Lipscomb (24-6, 14-2), matching the Bisons shot-for-shot to open the game. Both teams were shooting over 60 percent from the floor tied 15-15 at the under-14 media timeout.
 
After trading buckets, sophomore Markus Smith recorded the fifth lead change of the period with an offensive rebound and tip-in for his first career board and bucket to make it 21-20 with 8:33 to play. Then the Bisons took over with four straight three-pointers to gain a double-digit lead, 32-21.
 
Lipscomb kept its foot on the gas, pushing its lead to 39-22 following a 20-1 run as the Owls went nearly seven and a half minutes without a made field goal. Isaac Mbuyamba finally broke the scoring drought with a monstrous dunk, followed by a jumper from Kyle Clarke to bring the first half to a close trailing 42-26.
 
Danny Lewis got the Owls fired up to open the second half with three points the hard way followed by another dunk from Mbuyamba. Lipscomb managed to quell the momentum each time though with a pair of three-pointers to push its lead to 17, 48-13, at the 19-minute mark.
 
The two teams proceeded to trade buckets as the Owls whittled away at the Bisons' lead. A jumper from Kosta Jankovic finally got KSU within single-digits with 10 minutes to play before Bobby Parker drilled a three-pointer and the ensuing free throw to complete the four-point play and pull the Owls within four, 61-57.
 
Lipscomb responded immediately with a 10-3 run to extend its lead back to double-figures, 71-61, with 5:44 to go. The Owls attempted to mount another comeback, but the Bisons answered each bucket to maintain their lead.
 
Lewis and Parker both turned up the heat in the second half recording 17 and 15 points, respectively, in the period.
 
Notes: Danny Lewis led the team with 25 points to mark the second time in the last three games he has scored 20 or more points … Bobby Parker finished with 18 points, his first game in double-figures since the last time KSU played Lipscomb … Kyle Clarke tied his career-high with six assists, finishing with eight points and six rebounds … KSU was 6-of-13 from three-point range in the second half compared to 1-of-5 in the first half … The Owls' seven three-pointers marked the fourth straight game with five or more treys … KSU was without its leading scorer Tyler Hooker, who was sidelined due to injury.

Quotes: Interim Head Coach Michael Cotton
On his overall thoughts about the game...
"I thought they fought hard. I was really proud of their effort, especially the first 10 minutes of the game, they played with a lot of energy. We didn't execute great at times, but we overcame our lack of execution with the energy we played with. That kind of fizzled at the end of the first half, I let it get out of hand. I feel like I sat two guys that were scoring the ball, Danny and Bobby, I sat them way too long in the first half. You know it was just an inexperienced coach, they picked up two fouls and I didn't want them to pick up a third. Markus [Smith] came in and  gave us a boost, you know he hadn't played all year, so I was happy that he was able to get that experience. But everyone who took the floor helped us."

On playing Markus Smith...
"Markus has been great all year. No one on the team is surprised by the way Markus played tonight because he's done that in practice. There were times where he may not have been on the floor in practice for like a week, week and a half, but when he got out there he did what he did tonight, made plays, scored the ball and looked like he belonged. That's why I didn't have any hesitation putting him out there because [Parker and Lewis] were in foul trouble and Tyler [Hooker] wasn't available and we needed another wing. He stepped up and did his thing."

On playing without Tyler Hooker...
"It really shortens the rotation. The kid had what, 36 points in our last outing, he's averaging about 19 a game. Those lulls, like say for instance in the second half when we struggled to score, that's usually when Tyler picks it up and generates some offense either for himself or for someone else and we just didn't have that tonight.  The other drawback from it is Kyle [Clarke] had to go 40 minutes tonight so I really couldn't give him a break and at times it showed that he really needed one. You could tell as the game wore on that he was running out of gas."