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MACON, Ga. – The Kennesaw State men's basketball team put up a strong showing in the second half, outscoring Mercer 41-32 in the final 20 minutes, but the Bears came out on top, taking the rivalry match-up 74-66 in thrilling fashion on Wednesday night.
 
Yonel Brown sank a career-best 21 points during the outing while Orlando Coleman put up double-double figures with 14 points and 12 rebounds, the first double-double for the Owls this season.
 
"There was something the last 10-12 minutes that we can build on," said KSU head coach Jimmy Lallathin. "There was a spark there for our guys. Our offense is based off of reads and we started making plays off of those reads that we weren't getting the first half. We picked up a lot of rebounds that we weren't getting early on late in the game and it's something we can look at and take some positives from moving forward."
 
Once Mercer, now 2-1 on the year, took its largest lead of the night at 25 points with 7:50 left in the contest, 62-37, the Owls mounted their comeback, starting off with a pair of Delbert Love free throws.
 
Love then added in two more with a put-back followed by a layup from Willy Kouassi, putting KSU, now 0-3 this season, within 19 of the Bears at 62-43. Mercer managed a basket moments later, but the Owls proved strong, scoring 10 straight on two three-pointers, one each from Nigel Pruitt and Coleman to make it an 11-point affair, 64-53.
 
The Bears found one more field goal before two more threes from Pruitt and Coleman brought the lead down to just seven for the first time since the 13 minute mark in the first half.
 
Mercer managed to bring its lead up to nine once again before the Owls had it back down to seven seconds later on a Kouassi tip-in, keeping it close at 68-61 with a minute remaining.
 
But costly fouls down the stretch had the Bears up 11 before Love sank the last three of the contest, time running out on the KSU comeback at 74-56.
 
KSU managed seven second half three-pointers and shot 49 percent from the field in the final period while outrebounding the Bears 21-12 and holding the opposition to just one defensive board.
 
Starting off the night it was Kouassi who took his third consecutive opening tip, but then it was Mercer that put in the first four points of the contest before Coleman put in the first basket of the night for the Owls on a layup from a Love assist, making it a 4-2 ballgame in the first four minutes of action.
 
Mercer extended its lead to eight points over the next three minutes to 12-4, leading into a two-minute dry-spell from the floor for both teams. It was Love that got the offense going again with a tip-in after grabbing his own rebound to set the score at 12-6 with 11:33 to go in the first.
 
A 4-0 run brought the Bears' lead into the double-figures at 22-11, but the Owls were able to find their rhythm as the junior guard Brown hit on his first of two first-half threes to make it a 22-14 affair.
 
The Bears would have the upper hand going in to the half, however, extending their lead to 17 points at 40-23. Brown hit a pair of free throws with just 30 seconds remaining in the half, but the home team connected on a buzzer-beater to send the teams into the locker room at 42-25 Mercer.
 
Mercer stormed out to the big lead in the second half, outscoring KSU 20-9 before the two big Love free throws brought the Owls back to life.
 
Along with Brown and Coleman in double-digits, Love also finished with 17 to go with his five rebounds and three assists.
 
Kouassi again had multiple blocks, swatting down two Mercer shots as did Pruitt.
 
The Owls will be back in action in the 2K Classic benefiting the Wounded Warrior Foundation this Friday at North Dakota State at 8 p.m. ET in Fargo, N.D.

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.