KSU’s men’s basketball team delivered an inspiring win Saturday night as they dismissed Division III Covenant College 95-66 in its first of two home exhibition games.
KSU held an obvious size advantage over the Scots which bothered them throughout the night as Covenant was forced to attempt 27 shots from outside the arc. Points in the paint were the story of the game for the Owls as they finished with 56. Senior Drew McGhee led the way, finishing with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. The Ivory Coast duo also made their presence felt inside as Willy Kouassi finished with eight boards and Bernard Morena put up 12 points.
Fourth-year veteran Andrew Osemhen added 12 points inside while going 3-of-4 from the line. Tied with Osemhen’s game-high 15 points was newcomer Orlando Coleman. Coleman added some flare to the Owls’ lineup, throwing down two vicious dunks and logging the most minutes for KSU with 24.
With starting point guard Delbert Love in street clothes due to a nagging ankle injury, sophomore Yonel Brown got the nod and took full advantage of his opportunity leading the team with four assists, adding 11 points. Head coach Lewis Preston stated that Love should be ready for the second exhibition game on Monday and will definitely be ready for the season-opener on Friday.
KSU led Covenant 41-25 heading into the half and seemed to lay off the gas coming out of the locker room. Covenant began to gain some confidence after cutting the lead to four after only five minutes into the second half. KSU had six turnovers in the first five minutes of the second half and began to panic when the Scots put on the full-court press. “Our guys got out of character a little bit,” Preston said. “We were trying to run the score up right away instead of methodically doing what we were capable of doing.”
The Owls then settled down and began to pound the ball inside, scoring 32 points in the paint in the second half. KSU’s defense stayed busy, forcing 21 turnovers and coming away with 11 steals led by sophomore Nigel Pruitt with four.
Although KSU won the game in fairly easy fashion, Preston pointed out that the team needed to make more selfless decisions, citing the team’s 36 buckets compared to only 15 assists. “We were trying to do a lot of one-on-one basketball,” coach Preston said. “We have the capability to get better and we will get better.”
Overall, the Owls new-look squad showcased its potential and its liabilities at times, proving there is still need for improvement in the team’s chemistry. “I think we made some strides tonight,” Preston said. “I think the one thing that I’m going to continue to stress is ‘know who you are.’” Preston went on to note that one of the biggest positives of the game was the team’s ability to move the ball stating, “We can be pretty good offensively.”
