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Press Conference
MACON, Ga. – The four year wait for a chance to play in the postseason has been well worth it for Kennesaw State so far, as the No. 8-seed Owls upset No. 1-seed Lipscomb, 72-69, in the first round of the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference General Shale Brick Men’s Basketball Championship at the University Center on Wednesday afternoon.
The Owls (13-19) playing in their first NCAA Division I postseason tournament, knocked off the A-Sun’s regular season champions with a stellar performance as four players scored in double figures including a team-high 19 points from sophomore Kurtis Woods.
Woods and Kelvin McConnell sparked the Owls offense by combining to go 9-for-11 from three-point range. McConnell hit all four of his three-pointers, three coming in the first half, while Woods got hot from downtown late in the game, going 5-for-7 (4-for-5 in the second half) from long range as the Owls snapped their seven-game losing streak.
Kennesaw State became the first No. 8-seed to knock off a No. 1-seed in the conference tournament in the last nine years. The last time a No. 8 won in the first round was in 2000 when Mercer knocked off Troy, 79-75.
“I am so proud of how we played tonight,” said head coach Tony Ingle. “Not only Kurtis [Woods] and Kelvin [McConnell], but I am proud of the great play we got from our bench. This was a total team effort.”
The Owls led by one-point at halftime as McConnell hit a three-pointer with 31 seconds left to give the Owls their first lead of the half. Kennesaw State was able to withstand a dominant performance by Lipscomb’s Adnan Hodzic. The A-Sun Player of the Year had another solid game, scoring 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting, and adding 16 rebounds.
“I noticed they looked a little down at the end of the half,” said McConnell. “We just kept the pressure on, played solid defense and came away with the win.”
The second half saw six lead changes and three ties, as the Owls fell behind on four occasions, three in the final four minutes, but each time Woods responded. The first time, a three-pointer with 3:17 left erased a one-point deficit. His second three-pointer erased a two-point deficit with 1:15 left and he gave the Owls their final lead of the night on a lay-up from a Matt Heramb pass.
Woods, who scored 14 points in the second half, made five three-pointers for the third time this season and the second time against the Bisons (17-13). In three games against Lipscomb this season, Woods is averaging 17.3 points per game.
Redshirt freshman Markeith Cummings, the Owls second team all-conference selection, gave his team a three-point lead with two free-throws with 6.1 seconds left. The all-freshman team selection scored 13 points for his 31st double-digit scoring game of the season in 32 tries. Spencer Dixon added 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Owls will play in the semifinals on Friday evening when they take on the winner of Thursday afternoon’s contest between No. 4-seed Campbell and No. 5-seed East Tennessee State. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with pregame starting at 6 p.m. on 920 am WGKA as well as on-line at www.920WGKA.com.