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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In a back-and-forth contest that featured a total of 19 lead changes, Kennesaw State made enough winning plays with the game on the line to claim its first road win at Jacksonville since 2017 with an 83-79 victory over the Dolphins on Saturday afternoon in Atlantic Sun Conference action from Swisher Gymnasium. KSU handed Jacksonville its first home loss of the season to improve to 13-6 overall, 4-1 in league action.
ROCK SOLID PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Rongie Gordon and
Demond Robinson turned big performances for the Owls, as the two combined for 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting. With the Owls' top two scorers held without a point in the first half, Robinson took over, hitting 4-of-5 from the floor and grabbing six rebounds before halftime. Gordon meanwhile posted his second double-figure scoring game of the year with 10 points, including the game-winning basket.
STAT OF THE GAME: KSU made a living in the paint, outscoring the Dolphins by a 40-22 margin.
THE FINAL TWO MINUTES: Gordon came up with the first of his two big offensive rebounds and second chance baskets with 1:43 left to put the Owls up 78-75. Robert McCray answered on the other end with a pair of free throws, and after KSU was whistled for a moving screen, giving the ball back to the home team, McCray scored down the lane for a layup and a 79-78 JU advantage.
Terrell Burden attempted a layup for KSU with under a minute left that was off the mark, but Gordon again came up with the rebound and quickly scored to put the Owls up 80-79 with 48 seconds on the clock. KSU then forced three straight misses before coming up with a defensive rebound, while
Simeon Cottle made three of four at the line in the final five seconds to seal the victory.
THE FIRST HALF: As it was most of the afternoon, the first half was a series of runs for both teams. JU held an early 14-10 lead, before the Owls went on a 10-1 spurt. Five different players scored during the run, with KSU going up 20-15 on a
Jamel King free throw. KSU lead 24-19 before the Dolphins responded with a 11-0 spurt of their own. The game would be tied at 32-32, before JU scored the final five points of the half. The Owls had to play the majority of the half with their starting point guard Burden on the bench after picking up two early fouls.
THE SECOND HALF: An 8-2 run over the first three minutes of the half put the Owls up 40-39. A big factor for the Owls in the second half was the play of Cottle, who had been held scoreless in the first but scored 20 points after the break. At one point the Owls and the Dolphins were answering shot for shot, and three-pointer for three-pointer, as both teams would shoot over 57% in the second half. That included a 6-of-7 second half for JU from three-point range. KSU however managed nine more shots than the home team, leading to a 51-point second half.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY:
"This was a great hard-fought victory for our group today. I thought our guys dug deep to find the toughness to pull out a road victory playing against a very tough and well-coached team in Jacksonville. A number of our guys stepped up today, in the first half we had
Demond Robinson and
RJ Johnson leading the way and keeping us in the game. Then in the second half,
Simeon Cottle was outstanding while Ronnie Gordon made big play after big play in the final minutes.
Terrell Burden, with his early foul trouble he did a great job of staying engaged in the game, and then took over when he came in for the second half, he just really keeps us settled and puts us in the right positions on offense. For us to have lost a tough game at North Florida and then come to Jacksonville and fight for 40 minutes the way we did today shows the character of this team. We can't wait to get back home to the Convo now to play in front of our great fans when we host North Alabama on Wednesday night."
NOTES
-Cottle led the Owls with his eighth 20+ point performance of the season. The fourth Owl in double-figures was
Jamel King with 10.
-As a team, the Owls finished the day 31-of-62 from the floor (50%), 9-of-25 from three-point range (36%) and 12-of-17 at the line (70.6%).
-This was the second win the past three games the Owls have come back to win after trailing at halftime.
-The last win for KSU in Jacksonville was an 81-71 victory on Jan. 21, 2017, snapping a five-game losing streak on the road to the Dolphins.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls are back home for their first meeting with North Alabama this season, as they will host the Lions on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Convocation Center.
