by Chris Raimondi (Staff Writer)
Hopes of an upset of “Dunk City” didn’t last long on Saturday afternoon, as KSU’s men’s basketball team fell to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, 83-62.
Willy Kouassi had his best offensive game of the season with 15 points, but lack of production from the rest of KSU’s starting four proved to be the Owls’ demise as the team moved to 1-8 in the conference and 4-18 overall.
“Since I’ve been in charge, this was the worst game we’ve played,” KSU interim head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. “We started off slow and our defensive game plan was just not executed.”
The game was lopsided from the get-go as FGCU went on a 12-4 run to begin the game, going 6-8 from the field while holding KSU to just 2-7. The Owls then got some rhythm going offensively with the Ivory Coast duo. Forward Bernard Morena had a pair of layups to go along with a Willy Kouassi dunk and foul which he converted to make the deficit 11-17 at the 13:33 mark.
After an FGCU three-pointer, guard Nigel Pruitt added one of his own followed by an Eagles turnover which resulted in a Yonel Brown jumper from the free-throw line that brought the game to 16-20.
Both teams traded baskets inside of 10 minutes with the Eagles never gaining a double-digit lead. After a Brown three-pointer at the 8:44 mark that brought the game within four at 28-24, FGCU then went on an 8-0 run in a two minute span. A-Sun standout Chase Fieler would not be stopped as he dominated down the stretch and finished the first half with a game-leading 18 points. Fieler finished as the game’s leading scorer with 24. FGCU would take the lead into the locker room at 46-37.
The second half was a highlight reel of alley-oops and physical inside play, but unfortunately for KSU it was the Eagles putting on the show. Kouassi kept his scoring up in the second half by scoring the Owls’ first four points after intermission. Kouassi scored six points in the second half to add to his final line of 15 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
From then on, it was all Eagles. FGCU spread the ball around successfully and were able to gain a lead of 21 points. No Eagles had double-digit points in the second half, but with the Owls shooting only 33 percent it didn’t matter.
Nigel Pruitt was the lone player with double-digit second half points with 10. Pruitt finished with 15 points and two rebounds in just 18 minutes off the bench. “He played with the energy we were looking for offensively,” Lallathin said on Pruitt.
However, Pruitt had no help as KSU’s top scorers in Delbert Love and Orlando Coleman were held scoreless in the second half. Love finished with only four points and Coleman with zero.
FGCU finished with 42 points in the paint and made 90 percent of their free-throws. KSU struggled mightily at the line going 19-32 while only sinking 36 percent from the field with 14 turnovers. The contest would finish 83-62 in favor of the visiting Eagles.
“It’s been a discipline issue for a lot of this year,” Lallathin said. “Part of it is youth; part of it is we have to get better. I’m going to foster a competitive environment.”
The Owls will go on the road for their next two games at USC Upstate on Thursday and at Eastern Tennessee State on Saturday. The team will return to the Convocation Center next Friday on Feb. 7 against in-state rival and A-Sun leaders Mercer.
