Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby jksander » Fri Apr 10, 2020 4:41 am

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November 22, 2020
Our Owls have given plenty to be excited about over the last week and a half. Though they had a disappointing home opener against South Florida, a remarkable turnaround in our second home game against Radford snapped the losing streak at 21 games and showed there's plenty of talent on this team. Though not boasting a deep enough roster to have beaten Washington last night on the road, the first half performance shows this year's Kennesaw State team is one you'll want to keep an eye on, particularly when the Conference “V” slate gets rolling after the holidays. The biggest key to our excitement here at the Sentinel: all our best players are Juniors or younger, and Freshman center Larue Ragin has proved to be magic so far, averaging 9.3 points 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists while playing just 23 minutes a game!

We're entering a tough spot on our schedule, with five of our last eight non-conference games on the road. So no one is expecting a miracle heading into December. But winning two of three home games and picking off at least two of the road games (UNC Wilmington and William & Mary look most likely) shouldn't be out of the question. A 5-6 record at the season's midpoint would be nothing to laugh at, considering our past few seasons in Division 1.
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Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby jksander » Fri Apr 10, 2020 5:02 am

November 24, 2020
Kennesaw State (1-2) @ Tulsa (2-3)

Aside from being tied 6-6 three minutes into the game, Tulsa was clearly in control through the rest of the first half, leading 11-21 with 7:52 to play and cruising to a more-than-20-point halftime lead, up 25-47 at the break. They toyed with us briefly, and then nailed it home – the margin was 32 points with 11 minutes to play, and they'd go on to flatten us 52-92.

Player of the Game: Damion Christie (11 pts 5 reb 2 ast 1 blk)
Honorable Mention: Kareem Roach (11 pts 5 reb 1 ast 1 blk)
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Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby jksander » Fri Apr 10, 2020 5:26 am

November 28, 2020
Long Island (1-1) @ Kennesaw State (1-3)

The first half was a battle of wills, as each team took turns with the lead, Long Island taking an 18-19 lead with 11:16 to go in the half. The Blackbirds wound up outracing us by halftime, but we had our strongest offensive output of the season, and things looked good as we hit the locker room. A strong defense was all we needed to start the second half and get back under control. Halftime: Long Island 44, Kennesaw State 40.

We opened the second half on a 14-5 run, putting Long Island back on their heels and asserting that we're not going to be a pushover in this one! With nine minutes to go Larue Ragin officially had a double-double, his first of what I expect to be a spectacular career, and we were ahead 62-54. The Blackbirds never let us fly away with it, but we won comfortably by an 85-71 margin.

Player of the Game: Larue Ragin (17 pts 15 reb 1 ast 1 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Kareem Roach (14 pts 3 reb 1 ast) Damion Christie (13 pts 2 reb 1 ast)
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Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby jksander » Fri Apr 10, 2020 5:42 am

December 1, 2020
Kennesaw State (2-3) @ UNC Wilmington (1-4)

This was another close battle early on, and though UNC Wilmington maintained a 23-27 lead with 7:35 to play, we kept ourselves within striking distance. Brandon Manley tied it up 27-27 with a sweet inside shot, and Larue Ragin had a nearly perfect dunk moments later to put us up 29-27 with 6:14 to go! A Kareem Roach triple with 1:38 remaining put us ahead 36-33, a lead we would not relinquish prior to the break. Halftime: Kennesaw State 42, UNC Wilmington 38.

We came out for the second half on an 11-1 run to put the Wilmington fans out of the battle, allowing us to have our way with them defensively early on. With 11:19 to play we led 61-50, and it would have become a blowout had Larue Ragin not gotten into early foul trouble. He calmed himself and came back into the game, and though UNC fought to keep the game competitive, we still led 74-66 with 3:14 remaining. We dominated from there to win 86-77.

Player of the Game: Brandon Manley (20 pts 8 ast 1 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Kareem Roach (15 pts 4 reb 1 blk) Larue Ragin (14 pts 7 reb 2 blk)[/list]
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Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby jksander » Fri Apr 10, 2020 6:15 am

December 5, 2020
Kennesaw State (3-3) @ William & Mary (4-2)

Brandon Manley opened the game with a triple, and with 17:27 to go in the half his second three of the game put us up 8-4 on a William & Mary team clearly not expecting us to come out fast. They rallied, of course – no road games are ever that easy – but a Chris Snyder triple put us within a point, down 11-12 with 14:14 to play, and Shane Ross, coming off the bench, put in a quick two to give us the lead again just seconds later. Then the Tribe rattled off a 10-2 run over the next five minutes, giving them the first significant lead for either team. Before we knew it, this was a 20-point blowout before halftime. Halftime: Kennesaw State 29, William & Mary 45.

We'd scored the last four points of the first half, the only reason we were within 16 at the break. Obviously we needed to start strong, and for a few minutes we flirted with making the game competitive, coming within a dozen points twice. Then we collapsed again, trailing 43-64 with 9:27 remaining and the game all but out of reach. We got in our own heads, taking a game that was winnable midway through the first half and turning it into a devastating 66-86 loss.

Player of the Game: Shane Ross (13 pts 4 reb 1 ast) in 17 minutes!
Honorable Mentions: Chris Snyder (11 pts 2 reb 4 ast 2 stl) Larue Ragin (12 pts 2 reb 1 ast)
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Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby jksander » Fri Apr 10, 2020 6:50 am

December 8, 2020
NJIT (2-4) @ Kennesaw State (3-4)

We came out strong and held a solid 18-12 lead on the Highlanders with 11:28 remaining in the first half, but we hit a wall midway through the half and let NJIT back in. They took the lead 27-28 with 5:52 to play, and had it not been for a career-best half from Kareem Roach, we would never have even kept it close. NJIT went into the half with a lead they shouldn't have had, and with all the momentum. Halftime: NJIT 44, Kennesaw State 40.

The second half started out as an absolute slugfest, with NJIT busting out to an eight point lead, only for us to claw back to within two (down 59-61) with 13:55 to play. We tied it 63-63 on a Damion Christie deuce, and took our first lead since midway through the first half on an easy inside shot from Ragin to lead 69-68 with 9:46 remaining. Both teams then went ICE COLD over the next several minutes, before Griffin Casper nailed a three to make our lead 72-68 with 6:15 left in the game. With 3:37 left in the game, NJIT tied it 74-74, making this a run-to-the-buzzer nailbiter. Down 76-81 with less than a minute to play, we rallied via a Michael Tyler three-pointer and an absolutely beautiful fast-break deuce by Kareem Roach off an assist by Christie, tying it 81-81 with just 24 seconds to play! We wound up winning the game on free-throws, as Chris Snyder nailed two in the final seconds to ice it 83-81 in regulation, sparing us the brutality of overtime.

Player of the Game: Kareem Roach (26 pts 7 reb 2 ast 3 stl 1 blk)
Honorable Mention: Larue Ragin (19 pts 5 reb 4 ast 1 blk)
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Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby jksander » Fri Apr 10, 2020 7:24 am

December 13, 2020
Kennesaw State (4-4) @ Georgia (4-3)

Ten minutes in we trailed the Bulldogs 6-22, and they planned on taking the rest of the game to abjectly crush us. Nothing memorable here, you'd think, except our three-point shooting got us back in it! Five of them, to be precise, pulling us to within 11 with 4:49 to go, down 22-33. A few free throws, and a sweet deuce in traffic by Manley, and suddenly it was a 28-33 game with :57 left on the clock! Casper almost shredded the net with a deep three with :39 to go, making it a 31-33 game, and though we trailed by four at the half, we'd OWNED the momentum as the half closed out. Halftime: Kennesaw State 31, Georgia 35.

When Damion Christie tied it 37-37 on a basic jumper, the air completely went out of this place. And when Manley swished another long-range three (our 7th of the game!) to make it 40-39 and giving us our first lead of the game with 15:01 to play, it was so quiet you could hear audible groans from the Georgia fans amid our contingent's loud celebration. Georgia took us seriously from there and clamped down completely on defense, while putting together a 17-3 run that put us back in our place. But we'd shown them a spark they hadn't expected, and we kept slogging. They simply had the depth to outlast us. Down 51-65 with 6:41 to play, we couldn't recover. In the end it was a 57-79 rout.

Player of the Game: Brandon Manley (14 pts 3 reb 6 ast 1 blk)
Honorable Mention: Larue Ragin (10 pts 5 reb 1 stl 2 blk)
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Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby PointGuard » Fri Apr 10, 2020 4:47 pm

jksander wrote:November 21, 2020

[color=#008000]Shocking Game of the Week: In a matchup between High Point's Panthers and the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson, an offensive power performance was put on by both teams as they fought their way to a 107-107 tie at the end of regulation! High Point would outscore the Knights 18-11 in overtime to win 125-118. Fascinating stats, however: Fairleigh Dickinson had led 54-37 at the half, and put up a remarkably consistent 53 points in the second half, but High Point managed to score 70 points in that half. Combining the second half and the overtime period, High Point outscored the Knights 88-64 over a 25-minute stretch. Fairleigh Dickinson finished with seven players in double-figures, while High Point had five, led by Bryan Wright and Mark Richardson who combined for 56 points.


Daaayyyyuuum...I would have loved to have been in the stands watching that game. 70 points in a half by one team! 107 points each in regulation! 125-118 in OT!

Obviously "D" isn't in either team's alphabet.
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Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby PointGuard » Fri Apr 10, 2020 4:55 pm

Yeah, I think Ragin will be ragin' throughout his career.

And...the Owls certainly are flying...well, actually it's YOU who are flying...that's a lot of games to play in a day. Way to go.

Enjoying your dynasty thread (as always).
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Re: Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

Postby jksander » Fri Apr 10, 2020 8:30 pm

PointGuard wrote:Yeah, I think Ragin will be ragin' throughout his career.

And...the Owls certainly are flying...well, actually it's YOU who are flying...that's a lot of games to play in a day. Way to go.

Enjoying your dynasty thread (as always).


Thanks, PG :) It's good to be back!
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