The Kennesaw State men’s basketball team celebrated the life of former coach Tony Ingle before their game against North Alabama on Jan. 29.
Ingle coached the men’s basketball team 2000-2011, winning an NCAA title with the Owls in 2004. Ingle passed away in 2021 at the age of 68 due to complications from COVID-19.
In the game, KSU fell to North Alabama by a score of 71-58.
Neither team was willing to show any signs of weakness, with the lead changing sides a total of 11 times. Despite early offensive success, turnovers and three-point field goals began to hurt the Owls as they went into the half down 39-27. Brandon Stroud led the Owls heading into the half with seven points while also having three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
“They did a really good job of driving the ball,” head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim said. “We needed to be better with pace on offense. We want a point [and] possession on offense. Tonight our guards didn’t have pop. We played slow on offense and that led to slow on defense.”
The Owls came out to start the second half on a 7-2 run to bring the lead down to seven, but North Alabama’s shooting kept KSU at bay following the early jump and the deficit became too much for them to overcome.
Chris Youngblood led the team overall with 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Brandon Stroud was close behind him with eight points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. Terrell Burden and Alex Peterson filled up the stat sheet on both sides of the ball with a total of 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, five blocks and two steals between the two.
The Owls will complete a homestand before heading out for a road trip to Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 3.
