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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – In a game where the Owls needed players to step up, the team did just that getting the first road win of the season topping Youngstown State 90-84.

"We showed great character tonight," associate head coach David Rivers said. "Our captains Yonel Brown, Nigel Pruitt, Delbert Love and Orlando Coleman all showed great leadership. We had excellent minutes off the bench from Jordan Jones. The Owls played inspired basketball. The win was dedicated to our head coach Jimmy Lallathin and his family."
 
Nigel Pruitt poured in a career high 29 points hitting six threes which ties a Kennesaw State record. He also had four steals
 
In front of family and friends that made the trip from Cleveland, Ohio, Delbert Love added 24 points with 19 of those coming in the second half. He also had seven rebounds and five assists.
 
Redshirt freshman Jordan Jones received the most extensive minutes of his career and he answered in a big way. He finished the game with 10 rebounds, six points and four blocks playing 26 minutes.
 
After building an 11-point lead with 4:06 to go, Pruitt and Love combined to make seven free throws to hold off the Penguins and put the game away.
 
Coming out of halftime with a five point lead, Love got going early scoring the first four points for Kennesaw State, and after a Jones jumper to push the lead to nine, Youngstown State took a timeout two minutes into the second half.
 
From there, the teams traded baskets with the Penguins not getting closer than six points until there was 17 seconds left when they cut it to four after hitting a three.
 
One of Pruitt's six three pointers gave KSU its biggest lead of the game as the Owls went up 70-59 with 10:19 left in the game.
 
Similar to the way the second half started, Love put in the first five points for the Owls hitting a fade away jumper to get the Owls on the board and then knocked down a three to tie the game at five.
 
Youngstown State had a five point lead with 11:08 in the first half when Pruitt got going. He nailed his first three of the night and got a quick dunk after a steal to give the Owls the lead back and he didn't stop there. He scored nine more points for KSU giving him 14 straight and put the Owls up for good at 28-23 lead.
 
Yonel Brown finished with 18 points and eight assists.

Orlando Coleman led the team with 12 rebounds.
 
The Owls move to 4-7 after the road win and will now travel home to get ready for UMBC on Saturday at 3 p.m. at 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.