Category | Sports

Owls dominate Eagles

Published on February 2, 2010 by John Morbitzer

In an exciting game that saw eight ties, 14 lead changes and an early 12-point lead  erased to trail at half, the Owls (10-12, 5-6) kept their composure and defeated the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (7-14, 4-8) Saturday in the Convocation Center 77-70, pushing their conference winning streak to four games.

Finding themselves down at the half, the Owls returned from the break determined and tied the game at 43 with 17 minutes left. FGCU had a response for every Owl basket as the next 13 minutes saw five ties and nine lead changes.

After a jumper by sophomore guard Kurtis Woods tied the game at 63, a steal by leading scorer Jon-Michael Nickerson led to a fast break and a lay-in by redshirt freshman Markeith Cummings, who was fouled in the process. Cummings finished the play with the free throw, igniting the crowd.

Two free throws by Nickerson pushed the lead to five, and a surprising three-pointer by junior forward Matt Heramb allowed KSU to keep the lead.

The Eagles would threaten late, scoring four lightning-quick points, but late free throws sealed the victory for the Owls.

The three-point play gave the Owls the energy needed for a finish strong.

“I knew the team could do it, I knew it was going to be a good ending after that,” said Woods.

Woods and KSU stormed out in the first half with a 10-0 run that grew to a 12 point-lead with 13:37 remaining. Woods connected three times from behind the arc and recorded a lay-up to score 11 of the Owls first 13 points. FGCU worked their way back however, and chipped away to find themselves ahead by four going into halftime.

“I was proud of the way they started; they came out ready to play,” head coach Tony Ingle said. “Then we hit a lull and we didn’t finish the half the as well as we wanted. And frankly I felt it was my fault.”

The coach was in visible pain, having to use a crutch to appear at mid-court before the game to be honored by KSU Athletic Director Dave Waples. Last week Ingle became the winningest head basketball coach in KSU history. Ingle sat most of the game due to back pain, getting on his crutch sparingly to inspire his players, but appeared in good spirits after the victory.

“It’s tough to be in the game when you’re in pain; it hurts when I’m sitting.” Ingle said, “But we came out in the second half, picked right up, we played strong and finished strong.”

The Black and Gold received a major contribution from Nickerson, who recorded a career-high and game-high 21 points. Nickerson was 6-7 from the field and a perfect 3-3 from the three-point line. Woods and Cummings added 16 points each.

KSU will stay at home for their next three match-ups, all with major conference standing implications.

The Owls take on the Mercer University Bears Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and the USC Upstate Spartans Saturday at 7:30 p.m.