by Chris Raimondi
A crowd over 1,800 accompanying a highlight reel of dunks and over 50 percent shooting wasn’t enough to overcome the Stetson Hatters Thursday night as the KSU men’s basketball team came up short in the final seconds falling 68-65.
Sophomore guard Yonel Brown took over the end of the game by scoring all nine of his points inside of five minutes, however a missed three-pointer as time expired ended the game and dropped the Owls to 1-7 in the Atlantic Sun Conference and 4-17 overall.
“Tale of two halves,” KSU interim head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. “We didn’t guard anyone in the first half. We just kept playing Ping-Pong. We would score, they would score. In the second half we committed to defending and you can see what happens when we do that.”
The first half didn’t provide much inspiration for Owl fans as the team shot under 40 percent while committing 11 turnovers. Stetson began the game going 3-4 from the field and gaining an early 7-1 lead. KSU’s first field goal came by way of an Orlando Coleman three-pointer at 17:04 to make it 7-4.
The KSU offense was stagnate for the first 10 minutes of the game, allowing Stetson to gain a 12 point lead with 12:26 remaining. It was then that KSU made their only run of the first half. Two consecutive Delbert Love layups cut the Hatters’ lead to 21-13 at 10:45 followed by two Willy Kouassi blocked shots in Stetson’s next two offensive possessions. Kouassi finished with four blocks, seven points and six rebounds.
After a Nigel Pruitt three and a Kouassi layup, Jordan Montgomery checked into the game and immediately got himself to the free-throw line after stealing the ball and getting fouled on a layup attempt. Montgomery would make both free-throws and pull the game within three at 23-20, Stetson leading.
The Hatters would gain more distance after a pair of layups and a three-pointer, but a Coleman alley-oop assisted by Hamilton, followed by another Coleman three-pointer, would make it a five point game again. However, Stetsons’ Willie Green would not be stopped and the Hatter’s would extend their lead once again and head into the locker room up by 10 with a score of 36-26.
KSU’s Nate Rucker started the second half on a high note for the Owls by earning and and-one opportunity just 13 seconds into the half and making the free-throw. The and-ones kept coming when Love got fouled while sinking a jumper from the wing. He too would make the free shot and the Owls found themselves down by four only two minutes into the second half.
Hamilton made sure to keep the intensity up after he stole a pass in the open court and dunked it at the other end, erasing the double-digit halftime lead for Stetson to just two points. The Hatters’ first field goal wouldn’t come until 16:17 in the half.
The teams would then trade baskets for majority of the second half, but the Owls would never see the lead. KSU would make its final run inside of five minutes. Brown would check in for the Owls at the five minute mark and immediately made his presence felt with a layup at 4:33 and a three-pointer on the next possession which brought KSU within one point inside of four minutes of play.
Two quick baskets by Stetson extended their lead to five but the Owls would not go away. A Brown jumper brought it back within one possession at the two minute mark followed by a steal and dunk by Coleman with 1:06 left in regulation, making the KSU deficit just one at 64-63.
On their next possession, Stetson was able to grab an offensive rebound with only 36 seconds left. Brown quickly fouled Raymone Andrews to send him to the line, but he would convert both. A Rucker dunk with 16 seconds remaining cut it to one, but two more made free-throws by Andrews would put the game just out of reach for the Owls. With no timeouts left, KSU brought the ball up the court with 15 seconds remaining and were unable to sink the game-tying shot as they fell 68-65.
“It’s a tough one to swallow,” Lallathin said. “It’s a defensive issue right now and we’ve got to defend.”
The leading scorers for the Owls were Coleman and Love, both with 13. Love dished out four assists to go along with his four rebounds and one steal.
KSU will face last-year’s Cinderella team from the NCAA tournament, Florida Gulf Coast University (6-2 A-Sun, 12-9 overall) at home on Saturday at noon.
