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KENNESAW, Ga. – The UMBC Retrievers beat the Kennesaw State Owls basketball team 66-53 on Saturday, December 20.
 
"We talked about it afterwords and we're continuing to develop our maturity on winning games," head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. "It doesn't make a difference who you're playing and what their record is coming in. You have to continue to respect everybody and execute on both ends of the floor to get wins. That's what it comes down to. It's tough to win. UMBC did what they do. Offensively, they attack the paint, they rebound and they push the ball in transition. They didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Now, we have to regroup and get our confidence back and be ready for Monday afternoon. It'll be here before we know it."
 
The Owls, who are now 4-8, had four players in double figures with Yonel Brown leading the team with 13.
 
Nick Masterson tied a career high with 11 points making going 3-5 from the field and making two threes.
 
Delbert Love continued his strong play having 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
 
The Owls got off to a quick 4-0 lead after Orlando Coleman and Brown both put in layups within the first 20 seconds of the game.
 
After the Retrievers went on an 11-0 run, the Owls got hot from the perimeter. Brown hit his lone three pointer of the afternoon to end the run and then Masterson rattled off six straight after making three free throws and nailing a three to cut the lead back down to four.
 
Next it was Nigel Pruitt's turn to get the hot hand as he went on to score 11 points in a row for the Owls and cut the deficit to one at 26-27.
 
KSU closed the half on an 8-2 run over the final 2:09 to lead 38-37.
 
UMBC opened the second half with a 6-0 run to go up 43-38 before Love hit a layup to get the Owls on the board in the second half. Masterson followed that up with his second three of the game to get the Owls within two with 14:19 left.
 
From there, baskets were tough to come by for KSU, but they hung in there with solid defense. They got within four after a Love layup at the 10-minute mark, but that's as close as the Owls would get the rest of the way.
 
KSU has a quick turnaround, as they will host the Elon Phoenix on Monday, December 22 at 3 p.m. on ESPN3.
 
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.