Rio White contributed to this article.
The Kennesaw State men’s and women’s basketball teams played two games each last week as the women defeated North Alabama 74-72 on Tuesday, Feb. 19, before falling 79-48 to Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday. The men lost to the Lions 76-61 on Wednesday and to the Eagles 78-56 on Saturday.
A close win began the week for KSU as the women’s team defeated North Alabama in overtime for its third win in four games.
Sophomore Kamiyah Street tallied 29 points against the Lions. With five seconds left in the game, Street hit a three-point shot to tie the game and send it into an extra period. The wild last-second shot was featured on SportCenter’s Top 10, as shared by the basketball team’s Twitter account.
Before that shot, the Owls were down by eight points with just 14 seconds, but Street and freshman Amani Johnson made quick decisions that allowed KSU to come back.
In overtime, important free throws by Johnson and a strong performance by sophomore Lexi Mann made the difference for an Owls victory.
“I think that it was huge for our confidence,” head coach Agnus Berenato said. “Kamiyah knew that she wanted to score at the end of the game because she is a winner. She is a winner on and off the court and I am really proud of her.”
On Saturday, the women’s team was not able to continue their success from their previous game, falling to Atlantic Sun Conference leaders FGCU.
Despite a combined 37 points from Street and sophomore Alexis Poole, just 11 points came from other players as the Owls struggled early on. Poole led the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season.
The Owls increased scoring in each quarter against the Eagles but put themselves behind early after putting up just eight points in the first quarter. With the loss, the women have yet to win a game away from home.
The men’s basketball team could not gain enough momentum to get past North Alabama on Wednesday night after trailing by just one point at halftime.
Everything flowed for the Owls in the first half as they distributed the ball evenly and several players scored. Both teams played back and forth with little room for error.
Redshirt junior Tyler Hooker and freshman Danny Lewis combined for 17 points in the first half, while Isaac Mbuyamba and Bryson Lockley each had five rebounds.
In addition, Hooker and Lockley had three blocks each to help the Owls set a team record with 12 blocks on the night.
After the Owls trailed 35-34 at halftime, the Lions immediately attacked from the three-point line in the second half.
The small deficit quickly grew larger as the game progressed. A 14-0 run by North Alabama sealed the game and dashed any hopes of a comeback for KSU.
Hooker led the team with 20 points while Lewis scored 13 and Lockley managed 10.
Despite the promise of the first half, the Owls were outplayed in the second half by a more defensive Lions team.
“With all the mistakes and turnovers we had, we just need to be able to find our rhythm and move forward, especially in the games we have coming up,” Hooker said.
On Saturday, a strong second half from KSU was not enough against FGCU after the Owls trailed by 22 points at halftime.
Lockley led the way in the first half with 11 points but had very little support as KSU could only muster a total of 20 points. At the same time, the defense allowed the Eagles to find room and create a large lead.
By the time Lewis and Hooker started to score in the second half, FGCU was too far ahead for the Owls to come back from the previous deficit. KSU scored 36 points in the second half through a variety of players, but its losing streak was extended to four games.
Next, the women’s and men’s basketball teams will play on Tuesday, Feb. 26, away at Liberty at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. before coming home on Saturday to play their final home games of the season against Stetson at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
