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KENNESAW, Ga. – In the Owls first home game in well over a month, the Kennesaw State men's basketball team dropped a 71-55 decision to Atlantic Sun Conference opponent East Tennessee State in the Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
KSU hung tough in what was the conference home opener for the Owls, battling back and forth in the first 20 minutes before being outscored down the stretch as the squad falls to 3-13 overall and 0-3 in the A-Sun.
 
"I thought we had some good highlights today," said Kennesaw State interim head coach Jimmy Lallathin. "Sustainability was our biggest problem along with not limiting mistakes. We're going to show them those things on film tomorrow and we need to get back to fundamentals. Our fundamentals at times were what allowed them to go on their runs and we're going to try to eliminate the lulls and accentuate the highs."
 
KSU strung together a solid first 18 minutes, overcoming a three-point deficit right off the bat with a 4-0 run thanks to buckets by Nate Rucker and Andre Osemhen, keeping things close at 6-5 Owls three minutes in. ETSU (7-7, 1-0 A-Sun) regained the brief lead with a three before Orlando Coleman came back with the answer, sending in his own triple to put KSU back up by one.
 
The Buccaneers went on the offensive run to take what was the biggest lead for either team up until the 12:28 mark with a three to make it 17-13 ETSU. Moments after checking into the game, however, it was Bernard Morena who found his stroke early, sinking the three-pointer followed by three free throws from Nigel Pruitt to put the Owls up by two.
 
Pruitt then connected on the three-point field goal from a Yonel Brown assist to give KSU its largest lead of the game at five points, 22-17, with eight to play in the opening half. ETSU took an 8-0 run to once again put themselves back on top by a pair. KSU tied the game up twice more, once on a Brown free throw and again on a Coleman layup with under five on the clock.
 
But it was ETSU that went into the half with the momentum, extending its lead to 40-32 after outscoring the Owls 8-2 in the final three minutes.
 
The Buccaneers then went up by double-figures shortly after the intermission, a lead they would hold for the remainder of the contest.
 
KSU did manage to put together offensive spurts in the second half, going on a 6-0 run midway through to cut an 18-point ETSU lead down to just 12 after four points from the guard Charlie Byers to make it 56-44 Bucs.
 
The visitors brought their lead back up to past the 20-point mark, but the Owls clawed back, bringing it down to just 13 over a two-minute stretch. But the comeback came too late as ETSU took the 16-point win in what was the Bucs' A-Sun opener.
 
Coleman earned his sixth consecutive game scoring in double-figures as he led the Owls with 11 points while Rucker was right behind with his 10 and team-high six rebounds.
 
As a team, KSU shot 40 percent from the field with 13 assists, four of those coming from Morena and three from Delbert Love.
 
The Owls also outrebounded their opponent, bringing down 30 to the Bucs 27 with 11 of the 30 coming on the offensive end, giving KSU 10 second chance points.
 
KSU is back on the court this Monday, Jan. 6 as USC Upstate heads to the Convocation Center for a 7 p.m. ET time game.

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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