Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

[jksander]

January 10, 2022
SC Upstate (2-11, 0-2) @ Kennesaw State (0-13, 0-2)

We have had so many close games go bad, and our players are working so hard despite our ridiculously poor start to the season, I can't help but feel all we need is to get over that hump and get a win and things will start to flow. And tonight we at least came out for the game with confidence, opening up a 10-2 lead on SC Upstate and giving our fans something to at least sit up for. A Ragin bucket put us ahead 20-4 with 13:32 to go and with 7:30 to go it was a 20-point game, our lead 33-13! We put up the kind of offensive performance I've known we could (but hadn't seen yet) and we led 54-26 at the half! From there we did the unthinkable and actually clamped down to dominate a team. It didn't take anything flashy, just determination not to let it slip away. We won easily, 86-50! Hopefully this will open the floodgates and we'll dig out.

Player of the Game: Shane Ross (21 pts 7 reb 2 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Larue Ragin (16 pts 6 reb 1 ast 2 stl 2 blk) Kareem Roach (13 pts 14 reb 1 blk)

[jksander]

January 11, 2022
Kennesaw State (1-13, 1-2) @ Stony Brook (7-7, 1-2)

We matched Stony Brook shot for shot early in this one, but both teams were playing solid defense as well, so we were knotted 8-8 with 15:05 to go in the first half. Snyder put us up 14-8 on two ridiculously sweet triples, however, and we were suddenly in the driver's seat with 14:06 left. We built a great deal of momentum as Stony Brook struggled, and with 9:30 left we were ahead comfortably 24-14. See what I said about building confidence? Finally our shots started falling like we'd known they should have all season, and despite a comeback by the home team, we'd defended well and were up by seven at the break. Halftime: Kennesaw State 34, Stony Brook 27.

The second half turned into a defensive slugfest, with us still up 39-33 with 12:46 remaining. We pulled away, however, as the half progressed and were able to put them away with our best defensive effort of the season. Up 54-37 with 4:49 left in the game, we held tough and won our second straight by a solid 62-49 margin.

Player of the Game: Larue Ragin (17 pts 11 reb 1 stl)
Honorable Mention: Chris Snyder (18 pts 2 reb 1 ast 1 stl 2 blk)

Ragin has been in good form lately and we've decided to find a way to get him into the starting five again. We're going to go big next game, starting Manley / Snyder / Roach / Ragin / Ross.

[jksander]

January 15, 2022
Massachusetts-Lowell (9-6, 2-2) @ Kennesaw State (2-13, 2-2)

After the way we manhandled Umass Lowell at the start of this one I think fans might start taking notice that our gym can be a fun place again! We led 20-9 against the River Hawks, and it was a balanced attack so even when Lowell fought back we weren't afraid to get the ball toward the hoop. Our biggest problem we've been working on all year in practice has been creating shot opportunities … you can shoot 80% but if you don't take more shots than the other team, you risk falling behind even when you're doing well. And that's something I think we're finally making headway on. They pulled briefly within four, cutitng our lead to 25-21, but we put up a 6-0 run including points from Brandon Manley, Chris Earl and Nick Granberry, making it a 31-21 lead with 5:50 to play. The rest of the way we shut down one of the tougher offenses in the conference, leading comfortably at the break. Halftime: Massachusetts-Lowell 29, Kennesaw State 42.

Chris Earl got fouled on a jumper, hitting the free-throw after it went in with 12:26 to go in the game, putting him in double-figures for the first time in his career, while also making our lead 53-42. Moving him into the sixth-man position has boosted his confidence, and he's really starting to show what he can do. That jump-started our offense to really put the clamps down and we were able to power through from there to dominate Lowell 79-62. Three in a row, and a winning record in the conference against all odds!

Player of the Game: Larue Ragin (17 pts 10 reb 4 ast 3 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Chris Earl (16 pts 5 ast 1 stl) Brandon Manley (15 pts 4 reb 2 ast 1 stl 1 blk

[jksander]

January 20, 2022
Kennesaw State (3-13, 3-2) @ Houston Baptist (10-6, 4-1)

Houston Baptist comes into this one tied for first in the conference with Tennessee-Martin and Chicago State, so no one expected this to be a game we'd be competitive in, even with our recent hot hand. But after a back and forth start we built a 10-4 lead on the Huskies with 15:51 to play. With 8:33 left in the half we had a respectable 29-15 advantage on the home team, and we spent the remainder bolstering it. Halftime: Kennesaw State 50, Houston Baptist 37.

With 12:32 to go in the second half we were up 62-48 on the Huskies, but Houston Baptist clawed their way back in and with 5:50 to go our lead had slipped to six, up 73-67. With 2:08 remaining they pulled within three, cutting our lead to 78-75. and with :30 to go we clung to a 78-77 lead, potentially our biggest win of the year slipping away. We busted our asses on both sides of the floor and almost held them off, but an off-kilter triple at the buzzer by their star Chris Robinson put it to bed. Houston Baptist 80, Kennesaw State 78.

Clearly we're not over our hump when it comes to close finishes, and that's something I'm going to have to work on. But we've made great strides and we still have the Longwood game coming at home to continue showcasing our new-found team confidence.

Player of the Game: Shane Ross (18 pts 6 reb 2 ast 2 stl 2 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Larue Ragin (14 pts 2 reb 1 stl) Chris Snyder (11 pts 6 reb 2 ast 3 blk)

[jksander]

January 24, 2022
Longwood (13-4, 4-2) @ Kennesaw State (3-14, 3-3)

Longwood got out to an early 11-15 lead with 12:58 to go in the first half, but Ragin nailed a deuce and Tyler got two great free throws to tie it 15-15 with just :30 taken off the clock! We retook the lead 17-16 with two Chris Earl free throws at the 12 minute mark, and this was on! The game stayed close, going back and forth as we fought to assert ourselves in front of a growing home crowd. Snyder hit a sweet jumper and free-throw to give us a 25-22 lead at nine minutes, our biggest lead yet, and with 2:24 to go we were up 36-31. We built momentum down the stretch and went into the half comfortable and ready to win this. Halftime: Longwood 37, Kennesaw State 45.

The game stayed close early on, but we held our ground and were still up 59-50 with 11:48 to play. We broke it wide open from there, however, outscoring the Lancers 15-7 over the next six minutes and winning this one with surprising ease, 91-67!

Player of the Game: Chris Snyder (16 pts 2 reb 4 ast 5 stl 3 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Kareem Roach (17 pts 8 reb 2 ast 1 stl 2 blk) Larue Ragin (15 pts 9 reb 2 stl)

[jksander]

January 27, 2022
Abilene Christian (4-14, 1-6) @ Kennesaw State (4-14, 4-3)

Abilene Christian's biggest lead was 7-9 in the first three minutes, after which point we blew past them en en route to a 21-12 lead with 12:10 to go in the half. Though they kept it closer than we would have liked down the stretch, we kept our cool and continued to shoot well, expanding a six point lead at the 5:00 mark to a 17 point lead at the break. Halftime: Abilene Christian 40, Kennesaw State 57.

Larue Ragin had a career night and helped us pull away for good early in the second half, up 67-42 with 15:27 to play in the game. From there we dominated in pretty much every way imaginable, keeping ourselves in a position to compete for promotion out of the league despite our poor start to the year. We won this one 96-70, improving to 5-3 in the conference.

Player of the Game: Larue Ragin (42 pts 11 reb 3 ast 1 stl 2 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Shane Ross (14 pts 3 reb 1 stl 1 blk) Brandon Manley (2 pts 9 reb 14 ast)

[jksander]

January 29, 2022
Shawn Bullock failed his SATs with a miserable 830, and will no longer have a scholarship offer from us. If you're keeping score, that left us with one recruit out of five thus far, and a hell of a lot riding on spring recruiting. But I did get a verbal commitment today from Reggie Lewis, whose information is below, and we'll keep hitting the road for players over the next few months.

[jksander]

January 31, 2022
Kennesaw State (5-14, 5-3) @ Incarnate Word (6-13, 5-3)

The first half was back and forth all the way, with us trailing Incarnate Word 17-18 with 11:53 remaining before halftime, but we took the lead shortly thereafter and a triple by Chris Snyder put us up by four, 26-22 with 7:29 on the clock. They kept it close for a bit after that but we broke away and led confidently at the half. Halftime: Kennesaw State 47, Incarnate Word 39.

Incarnate Word fought back in the second half to within a point, cutting our lead to 53-52 with 15:55 to play. But a 5-0 run capped by a three by Chris Earl put us back in the driver's seat by six, and they completely shut down from there. We'd go on to win in a blowout, 97-64.

Seven games left in the season … we've recovered from an 0-13 start to win six of our last seven games. Stunningly we're actually in the driver's seat of our own goals, with these next seven games capable of sending us pretty much anywhere in the conference standings.

Player of the Game: Shane Ross (25 pts 9 reb 2 ast 2 stl 3 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Chris Snyder (22 pts 1 reb 2 ast 1 blk) Kareem Roach (15 pts 4 reb 2 ast 1 blk)

[Wayne23]

Yay! You beat Incoherent Word!!!

[jksander]

Yay! You beat Incoherent Word!!!

We had to. Those guys are so annoying ...