With a two-game losing streak, the Charlotte 49ers (9-7, 2-2) look to get back to winning with a Wednesday evening tilt against the Kennesaw State Owls (3-15, 0-7). Normally we refuse to include victories against non-DI teams; however, when your level of futility is approaching Wisselian proportions… well we just feel bad.

KSU is one of those surprisingly large universities (enrollment of > 24,000 students) you haven’t heard a lot about.  Kennesaw State is located just outside Atlanta up I-75 and is named after former MLB Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis, who not-so-coincidentally also served as the inspiration behind the Owls’ mascot.

Kennesaw State, led by first year head coach and double first-namer Lewis Preston, enters the game losers of 6 straight and 13 of their last 14. Most recently the Owls fell to Mercer on the road 81-51

Banisher of Black Sox and inspiration for KSU Owls logo. Eat your heart out, Jerry West.

in a game which saw the Bears shoot a wh0pping 62% in Macon. Despite KSU’s woes this season, given the Niners own predilection for turnovers and a mere 4 point loss to East Tennessee State University, the Owls are certainly worth our attention and best effort.

The Owls are led by Jr. F Markeith Cummings. Cummings is good for a team-leading 15.8 ppg and a solid 5.4 rpg and has the ability to extend out to the three-point line where he connects on 35.3% of his attempts from long range. Consistent with his scoring output, Cummings was tapped as the ASUN preseason POY; however despite the lofty expectations things haven’t been so peachy for the Kennesaw State forward. Cummings served a one-game suspension in November for conduct detrimental to the team. It was probably just a case of HC Lewis Preston lowering expectations in his first season by providing a scapegoat for the teams’ struggles – straight out of the Alan Major/Judy Rose playbook. Joining Cummings in the post (we swear that isn’t dirty) is another Jr. F in Aaron Anderson.  The alliterative post is the team’s leading rebounding at just over 8 rpg. and coincidently also scores around 8 ppg. (someone likes symmetry).

In the backcourt Kennesaw State pairs two perimeter threats in Sr. G Spencer Dixon and Fr. G Delbert Love. Dixon averages 13.5 ppg. and Love is good for 10.8 ppg. Neither shoot a superior percentage overall; however, their 35 and 32% success from beyond the 3 point arc would seem stellar compared to the Niner normal. Splitting time at the wing forward position are Brandon Dawson and Romain “Lettuce” Henry. Neither are particularly productive on the court and unfortunately for the Owls, there is little to turn to after these 6 on the Kennesaw State bench though Mirza Sabic, a JUCO transfer, went for 10 points in the loss to Mercer.

Keys to victory:

• Don’t let the rest of the Owls beat us: Markeith Cummings is an explosive forward, much like Dominique Sutton from NC Central.  He’ll get his points but the Niners need to keep the rest of the squad in check, particularly the Owl backcourt
• Limit turnovers: This should come as a shock to no one. With a stretch of 75 turnovers in 76 possessions, it’s obvious the Niners tend to get a little ahead of themselves, particularly on the fast break. Pierria’ Henry in particular needs to fight the urge to press when the team is struggling and instead slow things down a little to calm the team and execute on offense.
• Bench production: The Niners have struggled mightily to get any semblance of regular bench scoring. Deuce Briscoe needs to step up and provide that lift from the bench while E Victor Nickerson and Terrence Williams, for all their ability to get to the rim, need to finish plays.