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GREENVILLE, N.C. – Frankquon Sherman and
Quincy Ademokoya both posted career-highs and highlighted five Kennesaw State players in double-figures as the Owls rallied from a six-point second half deficit for a 96-92 victory over Georgia Southern in men's collegiate basketball action Sunday night in the Townebank Holiday Classic at East Carolina. With their first-ever win over Georgia Southern in four total meetings, the Owls moved to 3-1 on the season, and also picked up their first win over a Division I team this season.
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls were 32-of-41 (78%) at the free throw line, as Georgia Southern was whistled for 33 fouls in its attempts to slow down KSU on offense.
ROCK SOLID PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ademokoya set a new career-high with 16 points. He missed just two total shots in the contest, going 4-of-5 from the floor (2-of-2 from three-point range), and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. That was his first missed free throw of the season, as through four games he is 14-of-15 at the charity stripe.
THE FIRST HALF: Thanks to outstanding first halves from Sherman (14 points) and
Simeon Cottle (13 points), the Owls led by at least four points through the majority of the opening stanza. KSU grabbed its largest lead of the game, 38-29, off a Sherman trey and a dunk at the 6:04 mark. It was a seven-point lead when the Eagles made a run, draining a three and getting a steal and a layup in the last minute to cut KSU's edge to 50-48 at the half.
THE SECOND HALF: A Georgia Southern three-point attack fueled a 19-11 run to open the second half. A run of three-straight treys over a 60-second span gave the Eagles their largest lead of the game, 67-61 with 14:27 to play. A 6-0 run from Ademokoya off a trey and a three-point play put the Owls ahead before the Eagles answered with five unanswered to go up 74-71 at the 9:17 mark. KSU then used its defensive pressure to take the game over, not allowing a field goal for over the next three minutes. The Owls scored 11 unanswered during that stretch, going up 82-74 with 6:38 to play. Georgia Southern closed within two four times in the last 2:10 of the game but every time the Owls countered to extend the lead and went 6-of-6 at the line in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory.
POSTGAME QUOTES
KSU HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY
"They battled their tails off, I'm so proud of them and how we played tonight, and I'm just so happy for them for us to come out with the win. We've talked to them, that in these three games, adversity was coming. It started out pretty good, then they cut the lead at the end of the first half and took the lead in the second. I told the guys, just keep coming, just keep believing, and you'll always have a chance. They never wavered, they kept coming, kept playing our style of play, they kept defending. We got the stops, we got the rebounds at the end of the game that we needed to for the win."
NOTES
-This was the first meeting between the two in-state schools since Dec. 19, 2017, a 78-69 KSU loss in Kennesaw.
-KSU's nine blocks in the contest are third all-time in school history.
-The Owls' 32 made free throws is the fourth-most in a game in KSU history.
-Cottle finished with 17 points, breaking a streak of three straight games with a new career-high. Also in double-figures was
Terrell Burden with 12 and
Demond Robinson with 11.
-Robinson and
Rongie Gordon paced KSU with seven rebounds each.
-The Owls held a 23-18 edge on points off turnovers, thanks to collecting 11 steals and forcing 19 turnovers.
KSU shot 40.6% (28-of-69) for the game and was 8-of-23 from three-point range (34.8%).
-The Owls won despite Georgia Southern hitting 13-of-31 (41.9%) from three-point rangeand 92.0% of its attempts at the free throw line (23-25).
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls continue play in the Holiday Classic on Monday with a 3:00 p.m. contest against Northeastern in a game streamed live on ESPN+.
