The Stetson men's basketball team (14-14, 11-6) won its
fourth straight game, and improved to 11-6 in Atlantic Sun Conference play, defeating
Kennesaw State (3-26, 2-15) by a score of 91-77 on Thursday night at the
Edmunds Center.
The Hatters shot a season-best 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from
beyond the arc, and were 54.0 percent (27-of-50) from the floor, en route to
their highest point total of the season.
Stetson also outscored the Owls 25-6 from the free throw line to secure
its 11th league victory, which is five more than the Hatters
recorded a year ago.
"It was tougher than we wanted it to be, that's for sure,"
Stetson head coach Casey Alexander said.
"I give Kennesaw a lot of credit for that. I think they played well. I
think they played with a lot of fight all night. I'm proud of [our guys] for
hanging with it, showing some resilience, and getting the double figure win at
home."
Senior Adam Pegg opened the scoring with a three-pointer
from the top of the key just 15 seconds into the game, and the hot shooting
from the Hatters only continued from there. Stetson used a 16-0 run to turn an 8-11
deficit into a 24-11 advantage with 10:43 to play in the first half. Junior Aaron Graham scored seven points on a
three, a two, and two free throws to highlight the run.
The Hatters extended their lead to as many as 18 points, at
34-16 when two free throws from junior Chris Perez capped a 26-5 stretch for
Stetson. A long two-point jumper by
Nigel Pruitt ended the Hatter run, and ignited a 9-2 stretch for the Owls that
cut the Stetson lead back to 36-25 with 5:10 to play in the first.
Neither team was able to make any traction in the final few
minutes, as Stetson went into the break with a 48-35 lead over the Owls. Thanks to 56.0 percent shooting, and 77.8
percent shooting from beyond the arc, Stetson tied its highest first half offensive
output of the season.
After a driving layin by Perez to start the second half,
Kennesaw State took the advantage. The
Owls scored 11 straight points early in the period to cut the Hatter lead to
53-48 on Delbert Love's second of five second half three-pointers.
The Owls got as close as two points, at 55-53 with 12:14 to
play, before Stetson used a 13-3 run to take a double digit lead once
again. The Hatters made it 68-56 on a
triple by senior Joel Naburgs, but Kennesaw State just wouldn't go away.
A long two-point jumper by Yonel Brown cut the Hatter lead
to just five points, at 78-73, with 3:35 to play in the game. That's when a tough post bucket by Pegg
ignited one final run for Stetson. The
Hatters scored eight straight points, including two from Naburgs on one of many
back door layups for Stetson on the night, to go back up by double figures and
cruise to the 91-77 victory.
Graham led the Hatters with a season high 24 points, just
two off of his career best. The guard
went 6-for-12 from the floor, 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, and a perfect
8-for-8 from the free throw line, while grabbing six rebounds and handing out
four assists.
Pegg and Perez added 19 points and 18 points,
respectively. The former added a team
high seven rebounds. Naburgs finished
with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range. He and junior Willie Green matched Graham
with a team high four assists.
Love led the Owls with 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from
beyond the arc. Aaron Anderson added 17
points and Markeith Cummings chipped in with 13. Anderson added a game high eight rebounds in
the defeat.
Stetson will finish out the regular season on Saturday
against first place Mercer. The Bears,
who fell to Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday night, will challenge the Hatters at
3:15 p.m. at the Edmunds Center. The
game can be watched on HatterVision, and heard on the Hatters Radio Network,
with Robbie Aaron on the call.
