Nov. 9, 2007
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Owls lead early, but couldn't hold off Courtney Lee and Western Kentucky as the Hilltoppers topped Kennesaw State, 96-61, on Opening Night at Diddle Arena on Friday evening.
If the Hilltoppers thought they would roll through the Owls in the season opener like they did last season then they had another thing coming. Kennesaw State (0-1) scored the first four points of the game and led early as the Hilltoppers missed their first six shots of the game.
After scoring 14 of the next 16 points, the Owls rallied and were within a basket of the Hilltoppers, 14-11, approaching the midway through the first half, before the hometown team slowly built their lead.
Solid free-throw shooting kept the Owls close throughout the first half as they connected on 16-of-18 foul shots. Ronell Wooten, who did not make a field goal in the game, scoring all five of his points on a 5-for-5 night from the foul line in the opening stanza.
Lee led all scorers with 26 points as he made 11 of 15 shots in just 21 minutes. Boris Siakim scored 15 points and was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line as 11 WKU players scored in the game.
The Owls trailed 44-31 at halftime before Western Kentucky (1-0) quickly dashed any hopes Kennesaw State would have of making a comeback. The Hilltoppers rattled off the first 15 points of the half as they built a 28-point lead just over four minutes into the second half.
Shuan Stegall led Kennesaw State with 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds including five on the offensive glass. Keonte Keith and Jonathan Whipple each scored 10 points for the Owls. Tanner Jacobs scored five points and added seven rebounds.
Kennesaw State will be back in action on Tuesday evening when they travel to face the Auburn Tigers at the Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum at 8:00 p.m. eastern standard time.
