by jksander » Mon Apr 20, 2020 9:27 am
January 23, 2023
Delaware State (9-8, 5-1) @ Kennesaw State (13-4, 5-1)
We led from the start but Delaware State stayed in the game, trailing us 16-14 with 11:31 to go in the first half, and then they knotted it 18-18 with 9:18 to play. And after a half dozen lead changes Delaware State took charge, rushing out to a 41-50 lead on us at the break. We battled back to tie it 55-55 on a Damion Christie jumper with 13:57 to play, and a pair of Ragin free throws gave us back the lead 61-59 with 11:31 to go, and a 10-2 run over the next four minutes put us back in the driver's seat. Josh Griffin kept us in control of this one with a career game, and we remained undefeated at home by winning this one 92-74.
Player of the Game: Josh Griffin (36 pts 9 reb 3 ast 1 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Larue Ragin (21 pts 7 reb 2 stl 1 blk) Chris Earl (7 pts 3 reb 6 ast 1 stl 1 blk)
January 26, 2023
Kennesaw State (14-4, 6-1) @ Longwood (13-5, 6-1)
We're in a three-way tie for first in the conference with Longwood and South Dakota, and since we've already lost our matchup against South Dakota, our best way to secure a continued spot atop the conference is to beat Longwood, controlling what portion of our own destiny we can.
We came out swinging against the Lancers, leading 10-5 in the first two minutes of the game, at which point our defense kicked in allowing us to slow the pace and expand that lead, up 21-10 with 12:26 remaining. Longwood kept it close enough to stay in the game, but at the half we were up 36-30 and had dominated the game defensively. We played well to start the second half, rebuilding our lead to 49-39 with 13:57 to go in the game, but the Lancers fought back down the stretch, cutting our lead to two, up 56-54 with 7:54 remaining. A flurry of lead changes ensued, but we were still knotted 68-68 with just 2:53 left on the clock. A Reggie Lewis fast-break dunk put us ahead 71-68 with :43 left to play, but they quickly tied it with a three pointer and :26 remaining. That's where it stayed heading into overtime. Regulation: Kennesaw State 71, Longwood 71.
Longwood got out to a fast start in OT, building a 71-75 lead from which we had to dig out of. With 1:58 left in the period we pulled within two, down 75-77, on a Griffin deuce that rolled in off the iron, and he followed up seconds later with a thunderous dunk! Suddenly we were back to the 77-77 tie and had 1:41 to play … an eternity. Reggie Lewis put us back on top 79-77 with :59 left, but Longwood was still fighting, tying us up with :25 to play. And we'd remain there at the buzzer, forcing a second overtime! End of OT1: Kennesaw State 79, Longwood 79.
Longwood again rushed out to a quick five-point lead, but Reggie Lewis nailed a triple to pull us within two, down 82-84 with 2:49 remaining! A Josh Griffin three made it 85-86 with 2:23 to go, and with :53 left on the clock we pulled ahead 87-86 on a Lewis jumper. A pair of Karim Knight free throws made it an 89-86 lead with just :30 left, and we held tough from there to win this one 91-88 in double overtime!
Player of the Game: Reggie Lewis (20 pts 9 reb 3 ast 3 stl 2 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Larue Ragin (18 pts 9 reb 2 ast 3 blk) Chris Earl (19 pts 2 reb 3 ast 2 stl)