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KENNESAW, Ga. – Even with a strong second half performance against Summit League opponent IPFW, the Kennesaw State men's basketball team took a 76-66 loss at the KSU Convocation Center on Sunday afternoon in the team's first home game in nearly two weeks.
 
The Owls came out with a strong second-half, putting up 37 points to the Mastodons 36 as KSU moves its record to 2-5 on the year while IPFW improves to 5-2.
 
"As a coach I have to have our guys ready to play," Kennesaw State head coach Lewis Preston said.  "I'm going to give IPFW credit; they did what we talked about before the game. They were the most defensive team we've played these first seven games and they played just like that. For a 2:30 stretch in the second half our guys played the way I know we're capable of playing and we need to figure out how to get that out of them for the other 37:30, because when we do that we're a pretty good basketball team."

 
Andrew Osemhen then put in both of his two free throw attempts as the Owls regained the momentum with the 8-0 run, setting the score at 19-13 IPFW with just over nine minutes on the clock in the opening half.
 
IPFW then bumped its lead up to 16 before KSU again rallied offensively, slimming down a 31-15 Mastodon edge to just six points with a triple and a dunk from Nigel Pruitt off of a steal on the other end of the floor. Pruitt's jam made it 35-29 IPFW with 1:57 to play before a free throw just before the half put IPFW up, 40-29.
 
Three straight field goals from IPFW right out of the half put the Owls down by 17 before KSU once again responded, bringing it back down to just 10 over the next three minutes thanks to threes from Pruitt and Yonel Brown.
 
The Mostodons held onto their 10-point lead for the majority of the second half and held their largest advantage of the night at the 3:18 mark with a 70-51 score before KSU sparked the comeback attempt. Brown sank a pair of free throws at the 3-minute mark before an alley-oop dunk by Coleman off of the Brown assists made it 72-55 IPFW.
 
Shortly thereafter, Osemhen connected on a layup after grabbing his own offensive rebound followed by a defensive board and basket from Delbert Love. Brown then hit two more from the charity stripe and then hit the big three to make it a 10-point game at 74-64. But the effort fell short as IPFW held on to win it, 76-66.
 
Pruitt had one of his best stat lines to date, putting in 15 points with five rebounds and a pair of steals to go with his three three-pointers. Brown also continued his string of hot games, going off for 11 points, seven assists and a 5-for-6 day at the line.
 
Coleman fell just shy of the double-double, putting in nine points with his game-best seven rebounds.
 
As a team from the line, KSU was good on 14-of-17 attempts, a season-high for the Owls.
 
KSU makes its final home court appearance until Jan. 4 this Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. ET as the Owls host NAIA opponent Truett-McConnell.

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.
   

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