KSU at FGCU Box Score (PDF)
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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Four players finished in double figures and Kennesaw State dominated the boards on the way to a 74-67 road victory at FGCU on Thursday night in Atlantic Sun Conference action from Alico Arena. With their third straight win over the Eagles, KSU claimed its 15
th win of the season, which is the second-most ever for the Owls in their Division I era. They moved to 15-13 overall, 6-8 in league play to climb into a tie for seventh place.
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls +16 rebound margin was their largest of the year against a Division I opponent, as KSU finished with a 41-25 advantage, including 21-8 in the second half. KSU also held a 14-5 edge on second chance points in the victory.
ROCK SOLID PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Freshman
Frankquon Sherman and
Cole LaRue came up huge for the Owls in the road win. Sherman scored a game-high 14 first half points, and finished with a career-high tying 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting, 2-of-3 from three-point range and 7-of-8 at the line. He also added a game-high 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. LaRue meanwhile scored all of his career-high tying 10 points in the second half, including four straight to give the Owls the lead for good.
THE FIRST HALF: The Owls trailed 15-10 seven minutes into the game when
Demond Robinson and Sherman sparked a game-changing run. Robinson hit two straight, including one from three-point range, while Sherman followed with the Owls next 10 points.
Quincy Ademokoya added a layup and
Terrell Burden drained a trey to cap a 20-3 KSU run, as the Owls led 30-18 with 6:03 on the clock. The lead was at 37-30 for KSU going into the break.
THE SECOND HALF: KSU scored 15 of the first 22 points of the second half, taking its largest lead of the game on a LaRue layup with 13:48 to play to make the score 52-37. FGCU then took advantage of a series of fouls whistled against the visitors, which helped to spark a 15-2 run for the Eagles to close the margin to 54-52. FGCU would take its first lead since the first half off a pair of free throws for a 59-58 lead. The two teams then traded baskets over the next four possessions, leaving the Eagles still up by one with 5:56 on the clock. LaRue then scored down low and drained a mid-range jumper, while
Simeon Cottle hit a long three for a 7-0 run and a 69-63 edge with 4:19 to play. KSU would hold the Eagles to just four points the rest of the way.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY
"I thought this was a character win. We knew our backs were against the wall, but we talked about controlling our own destiny on this road trip, and playing our brand of basketball. We are doing a much better job on the defensive end and that's allowing us to get out on transition on offense. Gutsy win because that's one of the more talented teams in our league, but we locked in on both sides of the floor, we had each other's back tonight."
NOTES
-Burden finished with his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 assists. He is just one assist short of tying the all-time KSU single season record (D1 era) of 180 assists in a season, set by Golden Ingle in 2006-07.
-Robinson was also in double-figures with 15 along with seven rebounds.
-The win marked the first three-game win streak for KSU over the Eagles, and was just the fourth win all-time in Fort Myers for the Owls. KSU has now won five of the last six meetings against FGCU.
-KSU shot 49.1% (27-of-55) from the floor, 7-of-24 (29.2%) from three-point range, and 13-of-20 (65%) at the line. FGCU meanwhile was limited to 39.3% (22-of-56) from the field, and 21.1% (4-of-19) from behind the arc.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will go up to DeLand, Fla., to face the Stetson Hatters on Saturday in a 2 p.m. contest. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
