Panthers return home in blowout win versus Owls

 By: Patrick Chalvire/Asst. Sports Director 

Before heading back on the road for the next 44 days, the Panthers first hosted the Kennesaw State Owls, ending in a 59-38 win.

The victory was also a coming out party for junior Daviyon Draper, who ended Tuesday evening with a career-high 16 points and six rebounds while coming off the bench. “It’s a confidence booster,” said Draper. “I haven’t been playing the way I want. My teammates have been putting me in a really good position. I was just trying to be active.”

Despite winning only one game in the Spartanburg Marriott Upstate Classic in South Carolina, the men’s basketball team took on a seemingly easier foe in the Owls (3-4). “I thought it was a good bounce back game from our last game in South Carolina,” said Head Coach Anthony Evans. “It was a close loss but I thought we came back with good energy.”

Coming into the matchup, the Panthers held an all-time record of 23-10 against Atlantic Sun opponents, including a 3-0 record against the Owls.

The Panthers had the size advantage but during the first possession of the game, the Owls were able to come down with four offensive rebounds before scoring the first points of the game.

Sophomore guard Jason Boswell committed the team’s first two turnovers and was benched for junior guard Tashawn Desir five minutes into the game.

When the dust settled, the Panthers went on the offensive, including an 18-0 run during a 10-minute span. However, they left some points on the floor, while struggling from the charity strike and going 1-6 from the line before heading to the locker room. “I thought the energy off the bench was great,” said Evans. “I thought Daviyon, Kris Gulley, Marco Porcher, whoever else came off the bench gave us great energy because we started off a little slow.”

Aside from the large deficit, the struggled at times from the floor, shooting 38.2 percent (13-34) from the floor. After jumping out to an early 8-6 lead, the Owls found their troubles on offense, shooting 19.4 percent (6-31) from the floor during the first 20 minutes.

At the half, the Panthers led 33-21. Senior Dennis Mavin went into the break with seven points, seven rebounds and three assists. Draper contributed with eight points and four rebounds.

The Panthers continued to extend their lead in the second half, holding the Owls to 38.1 percent shooting (8-21) from the floor and 26.9 percent (14-52) for the game.

Draper’s previous career-high was nine points, which he tied when they faced Georgia Southern. After the game, he said despite the career game, there are still aspects of the game he can improve on. “I can do more defensively, rebounding and just help my teammates when they get doubled,” he said.

After only making one free throw in the first half, the Panthers went 8-13 in the second half, 9-19 for the evening. “It’s something that we have to work on, it’s a weakness for us right now,” said Evans. “It’s just focus because we go into practice and we work on it everyday, so it’s just a matter of going to the free throw line [and] having confidence and knocking it down.”

The Panthers will now head back on the road for an eight-game trip, not returning home in 2014. They will begin their trip against Louisville on Dec. 5, and finish it with UAB on Jan. 10.

“Now that we’re going on the road, we know we have to do things that we have to do in preparing for games on the road,” said Evans. “The way that we come in to a game, we can’t let them go on a 8-0 run, 10-0 run to begin with and then try to fight back. We’ve goat to have that energy at the beginning of a game We gotta be focused at the beginning of the game, rather than trying to come back at the end.”

Evans continued, “We’re not going to play here in the tournament, we’re not gonna play some of our conference games here, so we have to become a better road team,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for us to become a better road team before we get into conference play.”

The Panthers begin conference play on Jan. 4 when they face the Florida Atlantic Owls.

For Draper and the rest of the Panthers, the long trip away from home may just be what the team needs to grow both on and off the court. “It’s gonna make our team tougher, stronger and coach prepared us for this. We’ve been talking about this since practice started, that we’re gonna have a tough road schedule. We gotta be tougher mentally and physically.”

About the Author

Patrick Chalvire
: Radio Host for Panther Sports Talk Live. Assistant Sports Director for The Beacon. Majoring in Communication Arts. Sports fan and aspiring anchor.

Be the first to comment on "Panthers return home in blowout win versus Owls"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*