By: By Brandon Scardigli
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KENNESAW, Ga. – With a 21-point effort from sophomore
Orlando Coleman, the Kennesaw State men's basketball team cruised past Truett-McConnell College, 73-54, in the KSU Convocation Center on Tuesday night, capping off a two-game home stand for the Owls before the team begins a seven-game road trip.
Coleman was one of three Owls to finish in double-figures along with 14 each from
Bernard Morena and
Yonel Brown as the Owls bump their record up to 3-5 while dropping the Bears to 0-9.
"I'm Proud of our guys for how we came out and responded after Sunday's game," said Kennesaw State head coach
Lewis Preston. "We came out and played with some good energy in the first half with the press then came out a little tired in the second, but for the first part of the second half we played with consistency. All-in-all we'll take the win and continue to build off of it and see some bright spots."
After Truett-McConnell put in the first three points of the game, it was all KSU from that point on as the Owls answered with a
Nigel Pruitt three-pointer of their own to tie it up before taking the lead for good on another Pruitt field goal, this one a jumper in the paint.
The Owls made it a double-digit lead 11 minutes into the first half with a 10-2 run, six of those points coming from Coleman, as KSU took a 22-11 edge over the Bears. TMC managed to dwindle the lead down to five points with 4:25 to go, but a triple from
Tanner Wozniak put the Owls back up by eight before a Morena three-pointer gave KSU back the 11-point lead, ending the half at 35-25 KSU.
KSU came out of the locker room and lit up the scoreboard early in the second, scoring the first 10 points of the half on a pair of Coleman dunks, the second off of a Brown assists as the two connected on the alley-oop as KSU went up by 20.
TMC put together one more run late in the period, bringing the score down to 59-48 with just over five minutes to play, but a pair of Brown three-pointers along with three free throws put KSU back up by 20 as the Owls eased to the 73-54 win.
Along with Coleman's game-high 21 points, the forward also brought in eight rebounds with five steals and two assists.
As a team, KSU shot a season-high 50 percent from the field, putting in 26-of-52 attempts with Coleman going 8-for-11 and Brown going 4-for-6 with three three-pointers.
The Owls also collected a season-best 15 steals, turning those directly into 30 points on the other end of the floor.
All 11 players that saw action on the floor for KSU during the victory scored at least two points or picked up two rebounds.
KSU now heads to Ohio for a pair of games, taking on Cincinnati this Friday, Nov. 29 before heading to Kent State on Sunday, Dec. 1.
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-
