Final Score – Lipscomb: 71, Kennesaw State: 80
Location – Kennesaw, Ga. (KSU Convocation Center)
Records – Lipscomb: 20-13 (11-7, ASUN), Kennesaw State: 25-8 (15-3, ASUN)
THE SHORT STORY
Lipscomb nearly overcame a 16-point second-half deficit, but ultimately fell 80-71 at Kennesaw State in the ASUN Semifinal game on Thursday night in Georgia.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Kennesaw State scored the first four of the game, but
Jacob Ognacevic got Lipscomb on the board with a contested layup to cut the lead in half.
A three on the other end, however gave the Owls back the early momentum and a 7-2 lead.
Lipscomb continued to struggle offensively, as the Owls kept them scoreless over the next three minutes and KSU got out to an early 12-2 lead.
Ahsan Asadullah, however, got two early rebounds. His second rebound of the game, career number 1,120, made him the ASUN's new All-Time Leading Rebounder.
Matt Schner and
Quincy Clark came off the bench and gave an offensive lift to the Bisons, getting Lipscomb back into things.
Kennesaw State, however, continued to shoot at an extremely high clip and held a 28-15 lead with 8:51 left in the first frame.
Lipscomb was scoreless again for several minutes and KSU pulled away to a 32-16 advantage, but
Will Pruitt hit a much-needed triple to keep the Bisons in things.
Lipscomb held the Owls scoreless for almost three minutes, but the Bisons were unable to take advantage on the offensive end. KSU held a 32-19 advantage at the under-four media timeout of the first half.
The Bisons had some life when Schner hit a triple to get the deficit back to 10-points, but Kennesaw State punched back to get the lead back out to 16.
The Bisons, however closed the half on a 6-0 run, finishing with a massive triple at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 10-points, 38-28, at the half.
At the half, the Bisons were shooting just 29-percent, but Schner was hitting nearly everything he shot and had a team-high 13 points at the break.
Both teams came out of the second half gate firing, but the Owls started to try and slow the game down from the start of the half. Ognacevic, however, started going to work and got six quick points to open the second half.
Kennesaw State stayed ahead for the next several minutes by double-digits, but a slowed and balanced offensive attack saw Lipscomb creep back in things. Back-to-back triples from Schner and Pruitt cut the Kennesaw State lead 59-51 with 8:24 left in the second frame, forcing a KSU timeout.
Lipscomb's 9-0 run continued when Clark got a steal and converted an and-one opportunity on the other end, further cutting the lead 59-54.
The Bisons got another defensive stop and
Derrin Boyd got another traditional three-point play on the other end, cutting the Kennesaw State lead to a pair.
Kennesaw State responded with four-straight to get the lead back out to 63-57 before Clark stopped the bleeding.
The pace picked up as the squads traded buckets. Ognacevic hit a pull up jumper just inside the free throw line with 5:23 left for a 65-61 KSU lead before head coach
Lennie Acuff called a timeout.
The Owls got back out to a six-point advantage, but Clark found a cutting Boyd who put down an emphatic one-handed dunk to cut the lead back to a possession.
The teams kept pace for the next several minutes with both teams converting massive offensive opportunities as the Owls led 71-68 with two minutes left on the clock.
On its next possession, the Owls nailed a three-pointer at the end of the shot clock, but Pruitt answered with a quick triple from the corner to keep the Owls from pulling away.
Lipscomb had Kennesaw State on the ropes with a minute to play, but the Owls put up a heave at the end of the shot clock that fell for a 77-71 advantage.
The Bisons were not able to get an answer on the other end and the Owls converted from the charity stripe down the stretch and was able to close out the 80-71 victory.
HERD NOTES
- Ognacevic scored a team-high 18 points. Schner finished with 18-points. Clark finished with 12.
- Pruitt finished with a team-high nine rebounds. Asadullah and Ognacevic had five each.
- The Bisons his 92-percent from the charity stripe.
Lipscomb finished with a 20-13 record and made the ASUN Semifinal game for the first time since 2020.
