The Kennesaw State men’s basketball team was defeated by the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks 70-64 on Jan. 27.
The Owls were mere seconds away from giving JSU their first loss in conference play this season before critical mistakes led to their defeat. This was only the second matchup between the two teams, with the Owls winning the first matchup nearly 15 years ago. The series is now tied 1-1 between the two schools.
“We’ve been waiting two and a half years to be in games like this,” said Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. “That’s a heck of a team right there. They’re older—those guys have been around. They’re physical, well-coached and I told the guys we’re not hanging our heads for a bit.”
The matchup saw six ties and 10 different lead changes, with six of those 10 coming in the second half. Despite trading leads late in the game, Jacksonville State was able to take advantage of a scoring drought by the Owls, connecting on four of their next five baskets to pull away with a five-point lead with just 30 seconds left to play. An errant late pass would cost the Owls a chance to pull within three points, cementing the loss in a hard-fought contest. KSU was unable to hold a lead larger than three points throughout the night.
The Owls offensive attack was spearheaded by sophomore Chris Youngblood, who had a team-high of 19 points and six rebounds. Junior Terrell Burden was able to collect 16 points, and Demond Robinson scored 13 as well. Coming off the bench, Jamir Moultrie was able to net the Owls 12 points, making four out of five three-pointers.
The game opened with JSU taking a game-high seven-point lead, but the Owls were able to cut that lead down to three by halftime. The difference in the game, as stated by Coach Abdur-Rahim, was in rebounding. The Owls were only able to record 27 rebounds, compared to JSU’s 38. Both teams were able to connect on 45% of their shots through the first two quarters of play, but the Gamecocks won the rebound battle 22-10.
Both teams came out of the halftime break ready to keep up the energy, staying neck-to-neck throughout most of the second half. However, late-game mistakes ended up costing the Owls what could have been their 10th victory of the season.
The Owls are now 9-10 on the season, despite being a solid 7-3 at home. They currently rank second in the ASUN Eastern Division.
Next up for men’s basketball is a two-game home-stand before heading to Richmond, Kentucky to face the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.
