There’s a saying that everything great must come to an end. That happened March 17 as the Kennesaw State Owls’ historical season came to an end as they fell to Xavier 72-67 in a heartbreaking fashion.
Kennesaw did a very efficient job of defending and throwing Xavier’s identity off.
“I want to give Kennesaw State a lot of credit. It wasn’t just that we were off or didn’t play well. They had a lot to do with us not playing well. They’re a very well-coached team. I thought their guard play was outstanding. They’re good on defense and offense. They change defenses.” Xavier’s Head Coach Sean Miller said.
Kennesaw got off to a slow start to the game finding themselves in a 7-0 deficit in the first two minutes of the game, and then a 16-7 hold with 15:35 left in the game.
Kennesaw State finished the half going on a 14-3 run in the last six minutes, giving them a 43-36 lead heading into halftime.
The Owls secured their largest lead of the game as they carried their momentum at the end of the first half by going on 8-2 run giving them 51-38 lead with just under 16 minutes left in the game.
The Owls maintained a 13-point window for about a six minute window as they lead 61-48 with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
Xavier’s run was stopped by two made free throws by Brandon Stroud with 3:45 left in the game tying the game up.
After two consecutive scoreless possessions by both teams, a crucial foul was called on Men’s Georgia College Player of the Year and ASUN Player of the Year Chris Youngblood giving him his fifth foul of the game resulting in him fouling out.
Following the foul, Colby Jones gave Xavier a 68-67 lead with 16 seconds left in the game.
Following that possession, as Terrell Burden was driving to the basket, his attempted layup was blocked by Jack Nunge with Xavier recovering the block resulting in KSU to foul.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted but that was a great play by him to meet me at the rim,” Burden said.
Youngblood and Burden lead the way in scoring for the Owls with 14 points each.
With a historical season coming to end, KSU finished the season with a 26-9 record with the beginning of a winning culture in the upcoming years.
“The beginning was four years ago. These tears of joy, man, because we made a commitment to this University and we made a commitment to these guys sitting next to me that we were going to show up every day.” Men’s Whack Hyder Georgia College Coach of the Year and Owls Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim said.
“When you get to a place like this, it takes a special group of people to commit to something and stay to see that vision through,” Coach Abdur-Rahim expressed. “The beginning was four years ago but you better believe this is our standard, this is our expectation and we’ll be back.”