By: By Brandon Scardigli
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – On a
Willy Kouassi dunk with just 20-ticks left on the clock, the Kennesaw State men's basketball team completed a 73-69 road win over Chattanooga on Tuesday night, the first road win of the year for the Owls.
With the ballgame tied up at 69-69 after the team's exchanged a pair of free throws, it was
Delbert Love that came up with a timely steal on the opposite end. After missing on the fast-break layup, Kouassi was there with the put-back dunk to give the Owls all they needed as the team improves to 2-4 on the year with the win.
"This was a great team win," Kennesaw State head coach
Lewis Preston said. "Every person that came in the game contributed in a positive way and this is the first time all year we've kept our poise, especially late in the game when they went on their run. We held our composure and resolve and that helped us get the win on the road."
As KSU went up by seven, 66-59, with 6:58 to go, Chattanooga (2-2) went on a 5-0 run, cutting the lead down to just two before tying the game up at the 3:33 mark on a basket at 68-all. Both teams then went to the free-throw line for 1-and-1 attempts with each hitting on the front end, sitting the score at 69-69 with 1:17 remaining.
Love then came away with the steal that led to the Kouassi game-winner before a pair of
Nigel Pruitt free throws put the game on ice for KSU, 73-69.
After the opening tip, the Mocs went up to the 4-0 lead before KSU capitalized on a
Bernard Morena three-pointer and a layup from Pruitt that came after a Kouassi block and defensive rebound. The teams then played back-and-forth ball to a 16-16 tie with just over 11 minutes to go in the first as the Owls went on a five-point offensive run with a Morena freebie and a Pruitt jumper.
KSU held onto the five-point edge late before the Mocs cut it down to just one after back-to-back layups to put the halftime score at 38-37 Owls.
Following a technical foul on UTC, guard
Tanner Wozniak put in a pair of free throws to put the Owls back up by three before the start of the second period. Morena then went off for consecutive field goals followed by Yonel Brown's first of the half to push the KSU lead to 50-42. Brown then sent in a 15-footer with 9:41 remaining to give the Owls their largest lead of the game, 62-53, before the run from Chattanooga at the five-minute mark.
"Yonel is consistently finding ways to get it done," said Preston of his sophomore guard. "He's getting others involved and coming up with different ways to get to the basket and he'll continue to evolve and make us better as a team."
Brown made it two-straight games with career-high scoring totals, putting in 21 points on eight field goals, two of those of the three-point variety, with five steals and three turnovers against the Mocs' defense.
Morena also finished in double-figures with his 15 points to go with 13 from Pruitt, who also came through with a team-high seven rebounds and six assists.
As a team, KSU shot 47 percent from the field and put in 42 points in the paint while taking 22 points off of 22 UTC turnovers, capitalizing on 13 steals.
On the defensive end, the Owls held Chattanooga to a season-low 69 points and 32 points below their season average of 101.
KSU will return home for a matchup against IPFW this Sunday, Nov. 24, at 2 p.m. ET in the Convocation Center.
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State men's basketball news follow the team on Twitter
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOwlsMBB or by liking Kennesaw State University on
Facebook.
Season tickets are currently available for all the home court action for the Owls and can be purchased by following the link here.
-#GoKSUOwls-
