Jan. 25, 2009
Box Score
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Kennesaw State's men's basketball team trimmed a 14-point second-half lead for Belmont down to two, but couldn't quite gain the lead as the Owls lost 75-66 in an Atlantic Sun Conference game at the Curb Event Center.
The Owls played the Bruins evenly for the first 16 minutes of the contest, but a 9-0 run for the home team sent the Owls into the locker room at halftime down 32-23. The Bruins pushed the lead to 14 almost three minutes into the second half when Matthew Dotson connected on a three-pointer to put the Bruins up 43-29.
KSU (6-11, 2-6) would rally back, coming off the deck to close the gap to two. An 8-0 run made a large dent in the deficit, sparked by a three-pointer from Jon-Michael Nickerson and capped with a three-pointer by Kurtis Woods, who scored a KSU-high 20 points. After a basket by the Bruins, Woods drained another three, making the score 47-42.
Four straight points pushed Belmont's lead up to nine, but again KSU fought back. Down 53-45, Spencer Dixon drilled back-to-back three-pointers to cut Belmont's lead down to just two.
The Owls kept it close, but Belmont (11-7, 7-2) went on a 7-0 run over a minute and 45 seconds to push the lead back into double-digits at 65-55 with 3:15 left. KSU would get no closer than six for the rest of the contest.
Woods finished with six three-pointers to lead KSU in scoring. Dixon scored 12 and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Nickerson scored all 11 of his points in the second half. The Owls shot 53.9 percent in the second half and 24-of-50 from the field for the game, including 10-of-23 from beyond the three-point arc.
Belmont was led by Dotson, who scored a career-high 27 points and added a game-high eight rebounds. The Bruins shot 56.3 percent from the field for the game, including a 16-of-23 performance from the field as a team in the second half.
The Owls will be back in action on Monday night against Lipscomb in an A-Sun contest. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. CST in a game that will air on 1230-AM WFOM The Fan 2.
