KSU at Stetson Box Score (PDF)
Follow KSU Men's Basketball - X | Instagram
DELAND, Fla. – Kennesaw State was tied with 10 minutes to go but couldn't hold off a surge from the home team, as the Owls dropped an 84-72 road contest at Stetson on Saturday afternoon in Atlantic Sun Conference action from the Edmunds Center. The loss dropped KSU to 15-14 overall, 6-9 in league play while the Hatters held onto second place at 10-4 (18-11 overall).
STAT OF THE GAME: Stetson had a decisive advantage at the free throw line, as the Hatters made 27-of-37 at the line for 73%. KSU meanwhile was awarded just 15 free throws for the game (9-of-15, 60%). The Owls were also hurt by foul trouble, with starters
Demond Robinson,
Simeon Cottle and
Frankquon Sherman sitting on the bench for a significant amount of time after picking up their third and fourth fouls in the second half before the game-changing run for Stetson.
THE FIRST HALF: The Hatters held an early 23-12 lead, until Cottle knocked down his second trey of the afternoon to start a 12-1 run for the Owls.
Rongie Gordon's turnaround jumper tied the game at 24-24, and a free throw from
Terrell Burden gave KSU its first lead of the game, 25-24 with 5:54 on the clock. A 9-0 run for Stetson gave the Hatters a 35-27 advantage, and it was a 37-30 game at the half.
THE SECOND HALF: KSU scored the final three points of the first half, and came out of halftime with seven straight, going up 39-37 on a dunk from Robinson with 17:40 on the clock. The Owls held onto the lead for the next four minutes, going up 47-42 on a layup from
RJ Johnson with 13:11 to play. Stetson scored seven straight to take the lead back 49-47, while the Owls answered twice to tie the game at 49-49 and 51-51 off a Cottle layup. KSU then went cold from the floor and the Hatters took advantage, going on a 21-6 run to open a 72-57 edge with 4:34 to play.
NOTES
-Burden set another school record in the game, as his three assists gave him 182 for the season, setting a new KSU mark (Division I era). That topped the 180 set by Golden Ingle in the 2006-07 season. He finished the afternoon with a team-high 21 points.
-Also in double-figures was Cottle with 18 points, Robinson with 13 and
Quincy Ademokoya with 12.
-KSU shot 41.2% (28-of-68) from the floor, and 26.9% (7-of-26) from three-point range. Stetson made 47.1% (24-of-51) and was 9-of-20 (45%) from behind the arc.
-The loss snapped a five-game win streak for the Owls in the all-time series against the Hatters. KSU still holds a 20-17 lead in the series.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls close out the regular season on Friday, March 1 with a 7 p.m. contest at Queens in Charlotte, N.C., in a game streamed live on ESPN+.
