Box Score 
Follow KSU Men's Basketball - X  |  Instagram 

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Kennesaw State senior Rongie Gordon nearly doubled his previous career-high to lead all scorers while the Owls rallied from a 17-point deficit to stun Jacksonville State 74-70 on Saturday afternoon, spoiling the Gamecocks' chances at a share of the Conference USA regular season title. KSU has now won back-to-back road games against teams that were in first place in the league standings, and with their fourth straight win over Jax State the Owls finish the regular season at 18-13, 10-8 in CUSA play. The Gamecocks finished in a tie for second with Middle Tennessee at 12-6 (21-10 overall).

OWL OF THE GAME: Gordon's previous career-high coming into Saturday was 13 points, and he was averaging 4.0 ppg. He scored 19 points in the second half alone, and finished with 25 points on a sizzling 9-of-12 shooting from the floor, which included a 3-of-3 performance from three-point range. He also came up big at the free throw line with the game on the line, going four-of-four in the final 15 seconds to twice extend the lead to four. Gordon also added eight rebounds in the contest.

STAT OF THE GAME: After shooting just 30% in the first half, and 13.3% from three-point range (2-of-15), the Owls could out on fire in the second half. They knocked down 15-of-27 for 55.6%, and were even hotter from behind the arc, going 9-of-15 for 60%. Jax State meanwhile was held to 35.7% after halftime, and just 2-of-9 from downtown.

THE FIRST HALF: As hot as they were in the second half, the Owls' shooting was cold to start. KSU connected on just three field goals in the first 11 minutes, and that allowed Jax State to open up a 25-7 advantage. A pair of free throws and then a 7-0 run from Adrian Wooley brought the Owls within 27-19 with 6:44 on the clock. A 14-6 run for the home team pushed the edge back to 37-22, and Jax State took a 41-29 lead into the break.

THE SECOND HALF: The lead was at 14 points, 45-31 with the Owls made their game-changing run. A three-pointer from Gordon ignited a 22-6 run over the next seven minutes. KSU hit six three-pointers during the scoring burst, and Jamil Miller's three at the 12:20 mark gave the Owls their first lead of the game, 53-51. After Jax State answered with a three to take back the lead, Gordon drained another three-pointer to put KSU back up 56-54, and the Owls never trailed again. The score was tied at 58-58, but Gordon scored on consecutive layups to put the Owls back up four, and that started a 12-1 run to give KSU its largest lead of the night, 70-59 with 5:30 to play on a Simeon Cottle three-pointer. The Owls would not make another field goal the rest of the afternoon, allowing Jax State to chip away at the lead, cutting the lead down to just 70-68 with 2:21 to play. KSU stepped up on defense, forcing missed shots on the next two possessions. The Gamecocks were forced to foul, and Gordon stepped up to the pressure, sinking two at the line with 15 seconds left for a 72-68 lead, and after the Gamecocks scored with five seconds left, he was fouled and again went 2-of-2 at the line for a four-point lead to seal the road win.

POSTGAME QUOTES – HEAD COACH ANTOINE PETTWAY:
"I'm super proud of this team, what a great character win on the road today in a very tough environment against a really well coached opponent. We have a bunch of dudes that believe and fight to win every time they are on the court. So happy to see Rongie Gordon have the success he did today, the way he's played all year, he's a guy that just wants to win. I could go down the line calling out outstanding performances today from our team, we're playing some of our best basketball at the right time and need it most. Total team effort today, and "Love Wins", that's been our motto all year and we just need to keep it going next week."

NOTES 
- The win gave KSU back-to-back wins over 20+ win teams for the first time since the semifinals and championship games of the 2023 Atlantic Sun Tournament.
- KSU claimed its second sweep of a CUSA opponent this season with the win.
- Wooley scored 17 points and added five rebounds for KSU, while Cottle was the third player in double-figures with 11 points.
- The Owls finished with a 40-36 edge on the boards, and 15-13 on points off turnovers.
- The 17-point comeback victory for KSU was its largest since coming back from down 17 at Bellarmine on Feb. 2, 2023 in a 90-84 double-overtime victory.

NEXT UP – CONFERENCE USA TOURNAMENT: The fourth-seeded Owls will open play in their first-ever appearance in the CUSA Tournament next week in the quarterfinals against fifth-seed New Mexico State on Thursday, March 13. The game will tip off at 6:30 pm (ET) and will be streamed live on ESPN+. The winner of that contest will advance to the semifinal round on Friday, March 14 at 12:30 p.m. (ET), while the championship game is set for Saturday, March 15 at 8:30 p.m. (ET). Both semifinal contests and the championship game in the CUSA Tournament will be on the CBS Sports Network.

This year's tournament is being held in the Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala., from March 11-March 15. Tickets are available for purchase at conferenceusa.com.