Chris Raimondi—Sports Editor
In a game where Kennesaw State held a lead as large as 15, the Owls could not find any answers to slow the Elon Phoenix’s late rally in a 67-65 loss at home Monday.
Elon’s freshman Elijah Bryant scored a career-high 25 points, 17 in the second half, to help the Phoenix fly past the Owls who only managed to put in 25 points in the final frame after leading by nine at the half.
“We just have to get a consistent effort,” KSU head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. “The highs and lows are what we have to eliminate. We’re getting some new pieces in and we’re getting them acclimated. In the second half I thought we took some good shots. I liked our guys’ effort and we can use this one to build on.”
The Owls got off to their best start to a game of the season. Orlando Coleman made an immediate impact after throwing down an alley-oop dunk on the Owls’ first possession to give KSU the 2-0 lead. Elon went 0-4 from the field to start the game and KSU capitalized on each miss, jumping out to a 10-0 lead capped off by a Nigel Pruitt steal and fast break dunk.
KSU extended their lead to 15 at the 11:53 mark after a Coleman 3-pointer made it 26-11. However, inside of 10 minutes before the half the Phoenix were able to trim the deficit to a one possession game after going on a 12-0 run led by Elon’s Ryan Winters who scored six during the rally.
Both teams traded baskets until three minutes before halftime before KSU went on a 7-0 run of their own. The Owls went into the locker room up 40-31 on 54 percent shooting from the field.
The second half proved to be the exact opposite than the first for both sides. KSU did not score their first points until Bernard Morena banked in a 3-pointer at the 15:08 mark, and by then Elon had trimmed the Owl lead to 43-37. Bryant would answer with a 3-pointer of his own on the phoenix’s next possession and the shots would keep falling for him.
“He [Bryant] was phenomenal,” KSU head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. “He beat us tonight. A hometown kid comes home and has a game.”
Bryant, native of Gwinnett, scored 17 second half points and finished the game 4-6 from 3-point range after coming into the game shooting just 20 percent from downtown. Elon tied the game at 47 after a 3-pointer with 12 minutes to play in regulation.
Both sides traded the lead multiple times in the second half with constant back-and-forth scoring. Neither team held a lead larger than three points after the 12 minute mark.
With one minute left in regulation the Owls trailed 61-60 when Coleman hit a jumper from the wing to give KSU a one point advantage. Right on cue, Bryant responded with a 3-pointer on Elon’s next possession to grab the lead back with 44 seconds left.
Damien Wilson was fouled after grabbing the rebound on a Coleman 3-pointer misfire on the Owls’ next possession. The Memphis transfer missed the front end of the 1-and-1 free throws and the Owls were forced to foul. Elon sunk both free throws to take a four point 66-62 advantage with 20 seconds left.
Nigel Pruitt made a 3-pointer with 9 seconds to go to make it a one point game. KSU fouled Bryant on the inbounds and he went 1-2 from the line. Senior Delbert Love took a game-winning 3-point shot on the final possession of the game, but the ball hit off the front end of the rim and the Phoenix walked off the court with the 67-65 win.
“We were a couple inches short of going home happy,” Lallathin said. “We just have to build on that.”
Coleman finished with 18 points, Bernard Morena had 16 points and Yonel Brown finished with 12 points and four assists.
The Owls are now 4-9 on the season and will go on the road following the holiday break to Urbana-Champaign to play Illinois Saturday Dec. 27 before traveling to Nashville to take on Tennessee State Wednesday, Dec. 31. KSU’s next home game is Saturday Jan. 3 against Thomas University.
