Sophomore guard Kelvin McConnell dominated the first half with 20 points as the Kennesaw State Owls outlasted a game Clark-Atlanta squad for a 70-60 win on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.
McConnell ended the half with a 3-pointer to give the Owls a 35-28 halftime lead, their largest of the half. CAU had actually led much of the first half after going on an early 5-0 run to take the lead at 5-2. The Panthers extended the lead to nine points with 9:15 remaining in the first half only to watch the Owls close the half on a 25-9 run which culminated in McConnell’s trey.
McConnell finished with 31 points, including 13 of 14 from the free-throw line and four of six from 3-point land. His 20-point total in the first half tied his career best.
“My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball,” said McConnell. “This was definitely my best game tonight.”
Head coach Tony Ingle and his team rode McConnell’s early hot streak to the first half lead.
“We were trying to find the right situation and the right personnel and we found it in Kelvin McConnell. We called every play we knew so he could shoot the ball,” explained Ingle. “We kept running plays for him and he was hot.”
KSU started the second half on a 13-5 run ending with Jon-Michael Nickerson’s lay-in at just under 17 minutes remaining. This run put the Owls up by 15, which was the largest margin of the game.
The visiting Panthers were able to fight back and cut the deficit to as little as two, but the Owls would not give up the lead. Over the final 1:37, McConnell sank eight consecutive free throws to clinch the game for KSU.
The Owls improved their shooting, as the team knocked down 48.9 percent of its field goals including 40 percent from 3-point range. The shooting performance was a drastic improvement over the Maine game last Saturday, in which the team shot just 27 percent.
This is the second year in a row the two schools have met at the Convocation Center, with the Owls taking last year’s game by a score of 69-62. The Division II Panthers proved yet again to be a worthy foe.
“They’re a very good team,” said Ingle. “They’ve got seven experienced guys on their team and they’re really big.”
Jon-Michael Nickerson contributed a double-double for KSU with 15 points and 12 rebounds. The junior forward also led both teams with four blocked shots.
The Owls are now 2-1 on the season and will head out of town on Friday for a two-game road trip for games at James Madison and Colgate.
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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