Missed opportunity
- Updated: March 8, 2025
Kennesaw State rallies from an 11-point deficit in the second half, denies Jax State men share of CUSA regular-season title.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville State’s hopes of sharing a Conference USA men’s basketball regular-season title went down in a barrage of 3-pointers Saturday.
A barrage from unexpected players.
Kennesaw State hit nine second-half 3-pointers, including three from Rongie Gordon, and erased an 11-point halftime deficit to beat Jacksonville State 74-70 in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Jax State (20-11, 12-6 CUSA) will carry the No. 2 seed in next week’s league tournament in Huntsville, prevailing in a tiebreaker with Middle Tennessee State (21-10, 12-6). The Gamecocks split with top seed Liberty during the regular season, and MTSU lost to Liberty twice.
Jax State will open CUSA Tournament play Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Huntsville’s Von Braun Center. The Gamecocks will play the winner between No. 7 seed Western Kentucky and No. 10 Florida International.
Jax State came into Saturday’s action tied with Liberty, but the Flames burned Western Kentucky 90-61. Jax State’s loss denied the Gamecocks a share of the league’s regular-season crown.
“We have to be able to put two halves together this time of year,” Jax State coach Ray Harper said. “I thought we put together a really good first half and not so much in the second.
“Some of it was, they made some shots, but I thought we let that affect us, as well.”
On the strength of 15 first-half points from Pierre and 11 from Michael Houge, Jax State led 41-29 at halftime. Pierre finished with 22 points and Mason Nicholson 12, and Houge didn’t score in the second half.
Led by Gordon’s 25 points on the day, 17 from Adrian Wooley and 11 from Simeon Cottle, Kennesaw State (18-13, 10-8) caught fire in the second half. The Owls outscored the Gamecocks 41-18 over the first 14:31 to lead 70-59, before Jax State staged its own rally.
Kennesaw State made 11 of 30 3-point shots, nine of 15 in the second half. Gordon finished 3-for-3, Wooley 3-for-6, Ricardo Wright 2-for-2 and Jamil Miller 2-for-3.
“They had some guys step up and make shots,” Harper said. “Rongie Gordon, I think he was shooting 16 percent from three on the year. We were comfortable with him taking those. Same with Miller, but give them credit. They made shots.”
Down 70-59 and coming out of a timeout with 5:21 to play, Jax State reclaimed the early-game form that saw the Gamecocks score the first eight points and build as large as a 25-8 lead.
A Que’Ron House 3-pointer closed the gap to 70-64. Pierre’s driving shot made it 70-66, and Marcellus Brigham Jr.’s two free throws brought Jax State within 70-68 at 2:21.
Gordon made four free throws, wrapping two successful trips to the foul line around Pierre’s driving bucket with six seconds left.
This story will be updated.
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