Category | Sports

Men’s basketball entertains in exhibition game

Published on November 10, 2009 by Matt Bradshaw

Four Owls scored in the double digits in their 96-61 win over Fort Valley State University (FVSU) in an exhibition game at the KSU Convocation Center Tuesday, Oct. 3.

The win is KSU’s seventh straight win in exhibition games played at the Convocation Center.

“People who weren’t here tonight missed a show,” said head coach Tony Ingle.

A competitive first half included five lead changes, but the Owls were able to build a ten-point lead by the end of the half.

“I thought we had good effort,” Ingle said. “It’s very obvious we have things to work on. The thing I was looking for is effort.”

The Owls maintained a high energy pace on both sides of the floor, and they never allowed FVSU to lead by more than four points early in the first half. Owl defensive play only improved in the second half as FVSU often could not get shots off before the expiration of the shot clock, and were held to 28 points in the half.

Freshman Markeith Cummings made the game his own personal introduction to the KSU fans. The 6-foot-7-inch forward was 9-10 in field goal attempts and 3-3 from the land of three as he played 20 minutes in his Owl debut.

“[Cummings] is electrifying,” said Ingle.

Cummings certainly electrified the 1,000+ crowd at the Convocation Center with two dunks in the first half.

“I worked on a lot of dribbling and pull up shots,” Cummings said of his off-season work. “I’m just happy to be back on court.”

Forwards Matt Heramb, Mirza Medinic and LaDaris Green combined for six blocks and 13 rebounds as they held FVSU to only 18 points in the paint. Green scored eight points, had five assists, six rebounds and managed to grab a couple steals as well.

“Ladaris met my expectations, did just what I thought he’d do,” Ingle said. “He has a chance to be one of the best big men to play at KSU.”

The Owls hope to make a surprise run this season despite being picked to finish near the bottom of their conference. Strong play from multiple players such as Kurtis Woods (16 points), Kelvin McConnell (14 points) and Cortez Irby (10 points) is encouraging.

“We should do a lot of damage this year, I think we can be one of the best defensive teams in the conference,” Woods said.

Owl fans will get another chance to see what kind of damage their basketball team can do when they host the North Greenville Crusaders Friday Nov. 13 at the KSU Convocation Center at 7:30 p.m.