Category | Sports

Jacksonville rally sinks Owls

Published on February 13, 2007 by The Sentinel

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ­— Jacksonville overcame a 13
point halftime deficit to edge KSU, 76-72, at Swisher Gymnasium
Saturday. The Owls [11-16, 7-8 A-Sun] battled back from a six point
deficit
with just over a minute to play, to cut the lead to 74-72 with 21
seconds left in the game. However, a pair of free-throws by
Jacksonville’s Ben Smith [7-for-11] gave the Dolphins a four-point
lead. Three-point shots by Golden Ingle [2-for-11] and Ronell Wooten
[1-for-8] were off the mark and a turnover by Shuan Stegall [4-for-8]
with five seconds left sealed the defeat.

    Jacksonville [13-11, 9-5 A-Sun], who trailed the
Owls 41-28 at the halftime break, slowly chipped away at the KSU lead
in the second half, before using a 11-4 run over a six minute span
midway in the second half to eradicate a four-point KSU lead, and turn
a 57-53 deficit into a three-point Dolphin advantage with 4:13 left.
    On the following possession, Smith hit a 3-pointer and was fouled in the act of shooting by Brent Ragsdale.
    The four point play swung momentum to the Dolphins,
who kept the lead over three points until Stegall’s tip-in made the
score 74-72.
    A frigid shooting spell helped seal the Owls’ fate
as they made just one field goal over an eight-minute stretch in which
Jacksonville outscored them by an 18-5 margin.
    Smith led all scorers with 20 points for
Jacksonville while teammate Jesse Kimbrough added 19 points. Ragsdale
[4-for-7] hit for a season-high 17 points for KSU.
    Stegall added 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds
while Andre Morgan [3-for-7], Ingle and Nickerson each contributed 12
points. Nickerson also had four blocks.
    Wooten, who scored three of the Owls first five
points and did not score since the 18:06 mark of the first half, missed
seven of his eight shots. KSU made half their shots inside the 3-point
arc, but they made only five of 20 three-pointers.