Chris Raimondi—Sports Editor
After scoring 90 points on the road against Youngstown State with just eight players seeing action, the same depleted Kennesaw State men’s basketball lineup could not overcome University of Maryland Baltimore County’s tough inside presence in a losing effort Saturday, falling 66-53 at home.
UMBC (2-9) center Cody Joyce netted a game-high 21 points to go along with the Retriever’s 46 points in the paint. The Owls (4-8) put four players in double figures as Yonel Brown led KSU scorers with 13, freshman Nick Masterson matched a career-high with 11, Nigel Pruitt also put in 11 points and Delbert Love scored 10, however, all other Owls combined for just eight points.
Only eight Owls saw time on the court as several players continue to deal with injuries. Brown and Love each played the full 40 minutes.
“We’re continuing to develop our maturity on winning games,” KSU head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. “It does not make a difference who you are playing or what their record is. We have to respect everybody and execute on both ends of the floor in order to get wins. That’s what it comes to.”
KSU started fast by jumping out to a 4-0 lead within the first 20 seconds after Orlando Coleman grabbed the loose ball off the tip and immediately ran down the court for an easy fast break layup. The Owls came up with a steal seconds later and Brown gave KSU a two-possession lead with a layup of his own. Then the wheels came off. The Retrievers held the lead for majority of the first half fueled by 63 percent shooting from the field. With Willy Kouassi and Nate Rucker both sidelined with injuries, the Owls lacked an inside presence early and were outscored in the paint 28-14 in the first half.
UMBC’s big men Cody Joyce and Will Darley combined for 21 first half points against the undersized Owls. Inside 10 minutes before halftime, Pruitt caught fire after starting 0-5 from the field. The junior sharpshooter scored all of his 11 points in a three minute window, sparking an Owl comeback after falling behind by as much as 11 in the first half.
A Love 3-pointer gave KSU a 36-35 lead with a minute to go before the half. Jordan Jones got the crowd into the game with a momentous dunk on the Owls’ next possession. UMBC scored on their final possession and KSU went into the locker room with a one point lead at 38-37, despite shooting just 42 percent compared to UMBC’s 63 percent.
Whatever momentum was gained before the half for the Owls was completely lost once both teams stepped back on to the court for the second half. The Retrievers took a five point lead at the 16:09 mark after Devarick Houston threw down a thunderous alley-oop dunk while being fouled by Justin Diecker and successfully converted the 3-point play to make the score 43-38, UMBC ahead.
The Retrievers never looked back and built a lead as large as 13 in the second half. UMBC put in 18 points in the paint and went 11-13 from the free throw line. KSU never got to the charity stripe once in the second half and only managed to score 15 points on 29 percent shooting from the field. UMBC outrebounded KSU 20-11 in the second half and 36-28 for the game. UMBC were able to grab just their second victory of the season, their first on the road, by beating KSU 66-53.
“We have to regroup, gain our confidence back and get ready for Monday,” Lallathin said.
KSU will take on Elon at home in the Convocation Center at 3 p.m. Monday Dec. 22.
