After a strong performance at home against Mercer on Jan. 5th, the KSU men’s basketball team were unable to win either of their two road games during their Florida campaign, falling to North Florida on Saturday by a score of 81-72.
“North Florida came out and played to their strengths and we didn’t,” said KSU head coach Lewis Preston.
Following a triple overtime loss against Jacksonville on Thursday, stamina was much of the story as the Owls took on the Ospreys. The Owls kept pace with the Ospreys for much of the game, even grabbing a four-point lead midway through the second half. However, behind the play of stellar guard Parker Smith, the Ospreys opened up a 17-3 run and never looked back, burying the Owls.
“We continue to get better,” Preston said.
For the second consecutive game, Markeith Cummings led the Owls on the score sheet, registering 28 points. Freshman forward Nigel Pruitt added 10 points, tying his career-high.
“Nigel is getting better each-and-every day, each-and-every game,” Preston said of the play from his freshman forward. “The beauty of all of that is he is playing, where other guys his age are sitting down right now watching. He’s going to benefit from that as a sophomore, a junior and a senior.”
Despite shooting 55 percent from the field in the first half, KSU committed 14 turnovers, which led to 15 Osprey points.
“We’re shooting the ball very well right now,” Preston said. “We are getting better defensively. The next step for us is to understand what we are doing offensively that is working for us right now.” The Owls finished 0-2 in their trip to the Sunshine State. Before falling to North Florida, the Owls suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Jacksonville Dolphins.
The loss against Jacksonville overshadowed a career night for Cummings, who scored 29 points and moved into 10th place on the Atlantic Sun’s all-time scoring list. Delbert Love contributed 25 points and Aaron Anderson recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
After trailing 57-47 with a little over 12 minutes to play in the second half, the Dolphins rallied and took their first lead of the game 61-60 with six minutes left to play in regulation. The lead would be exchanged seven times before the Owls grabbed the advantage off a combined 3 points by Cummings and freshman Myles Hamilton with 16 seconds to play.
The Dolphins did not waiver, draining a three-pointer with 10 seconds on the clock, sending the game into overtime.
After trailing midway through the first overtime, the Owls took the lead 81-80. However, a KSU turnover gave the ball back to Jacksonville, and Russell Powell made one of two free throw attempts to tie the game at 81 and send it into a second overtime.
As both teams battled in the second overtime, Anderson was only able to make one of two free throws for the Owls, notching the game even at 86, and sending it into a third overtime. It was in that overtime that the Dolphins grabbed the lead and never lost it, winning the game 99-92. Cummings was held scoreless in the first two overtimes, and had just 3 points in the final overtime.
“Coming out of the weekend 0-2 when we had a chance to win one of them, and we had a chance to grab two out on the road, I’m happy of the way our young guys are playing, and I’m happy with the way our veterans are stepping up,” Preston said. “We have to come out with the same energy and passion we did in our last home game.”
The Owls will return to the convocation center when they take on USC Upstate on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7:00 p.m.
