Photo courtesy of KSU Athletics
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Men’s basketball’s season came to an end in a 81-79 loss to Liberty in the Conference USA semifinals despite a 28 point outing from Adrian Wooley at Propst Arena on Friday.
“I thought our guys played well enough to win the game, I just hurt for my guys right now,” Owls coach Antoine Pettway said. “It’s real, (the team) is in there crying their eyes out because it means so much to them.”
Despite a less than 24 hour turnaround after defeating New Mexico State in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Kennesaw State (19-14) was not short on energy in the first half, building a lead as large as 14 points when a Braeden Lue dunk put the Owls up 38-24 at the 3:54 mark in the opening period.
Wooley started the game 5-of-5 from the field, and led all scorers in the contest.
Liberty (27-6) steadied itself in the final minutes of the first half, finishing the frame on a 7-2 run capped by a Zach Cleveland dunk off an inbounds pass with 0.9 seconds on the clock to head to the half trailing 40-31.
The Flames made quick work to climb back within striking distance, cutting their deficit to one possession for the first time since the opening minutes when Taelon Peter hit a three pointer to make the score 48-45 with 15:19 to play.
KSU swelled its lead back to as large as 13 points thanks to a 17-7 run, including 12 points from Wooley.
Liberty’s Kaden Metheny caught fire in the final two minutes, helping bring the Flames to their first lead at 73-71 with 3:30 remaining.
KSU tied the game at 73-73 on its next possession, but never regained the lead.
Following a missed Colin Porter free throw on the front end of a one-and-one, the Owls found themselves with an opportunity to tie the game down 79-76 with 12 seconds remaining.
Just a few seconds into the possession, Simeon Cottle missed a contested three and Liberty corralled the rebound.
The teams traded trips to the free throw line in the final moments, and after an intentionally missed Cottle free throw fell out of bounds last touched by Rongie Gordon, the Flames were inbounded the ball and ran out the clock on an 81-79 victory.
“I think it was a really high-level basketball game,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “I think we made it a little bit harder, maybe got a little bit more aggressive on the ball (in the second half and I think Wooley played 40 minutes, that’s a lot of minutes in a whatever 29 hour stretch.”
Metheny led Liberty with 24 points, 21 of which came from three and guard Colin Porter followed with 15.
Barring an invitation to a postseason tournament, transfer seniors Delaney Heard, Gordon and Ricardo Wright made their final appearance in a KSU uniform.
“I really enjoyed my last two years here, and I just want to know that I gave my all for this organization, this program,” Heard said.
