Mike Foster (Sports Editor)
Trailing at home, 76-73, with 16 seconds remaining, KSU’s interim head coach Jimmy Lallathin sent four shooters onto the floor, including the hot hands of Delbert Love and Nigel Pruitt, and 3-point specialist Tanner Wozniak.
None of the four handled the ball in the final seconds, as a breakdown in communication led to a desperation heave by the Owls’ power forward Nate Rucker. Rucker’s ensuing airball left Love and Pruitt up in arms with disbelief, and KSU’s valiant effort against Lipscomb on Sunday afternoon was all for naught.
“Nate was supposed to set the down screen for Del,” Lallathin explained. “Tanner [Wozniak] was supposed to be the reversal and Nate was supposed to find Tanner in the corner.
“I wanted to put my two best shooters on the ball side coming off that screen, and Tanner never popped out for the reversal.”
The late mental gaffe all but erased an impressive display of fight from the Owls (5-22, 2-12 A-Sun), who never panicked after trailing by at least nine four different times in the contest. KSU faced an 11 point deficit with just 3:58 to go when Lipscomb’s Josh Williams ran down a long pass and finished with a dunk on the other end.
Pruitt led the Owls back with the next eight points, cutting the score to 75-70. A Delbert Love layup and another freethrow from Pruitt cut the Bisons’ lead to two. J.C. Hampton could have put the game out of reach with 16 seconds to go, but missed his first attempt.
Pruitt had a breakout performance, scoring 16 points (nine from beyond the arc) and grabbing five rebounds, while also hitting 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Love was his usual self with 21 points, six rebounds and three assists. Redshirt sophomore Orlando Coleman once again brought fans out of their seats with an alley-oop dunk worthy of national highlight reels.
“A credit to our guys for continuing to just fight, fight, fight, fight, fight,” Lallathin said. “That’s something we can build off of for the future.”
Lipscomb (12-134, 7-8 A-Sun) was led by its stellar guard play. Junior Martin Smith scored 25, with 15 in the first half, while freshman sensation Josh Williams was one board off a double-double with 22 and nine rebounds. Hampton added 16, while Malcolm Smith, who averaged 13.2 points per game, fouled out and was held scoreless.
Myles Hamilton had another strong performance for KSU, scoring 10 points along with five assists and four rebounds.
For Lallathin, the team’s 18-for-28 performance at the free throw line was a major downfall.
“Losing by three, that cost us,” Lallathin said.
KSU will head to Florida for a weekend slate against Stetson on Friday night and Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday. Tipoffs are set for 7 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively.
