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KENNESAW, Ga. – In a quick turnaround after playing on Saturday, the Kennesaw State men's basketball team lost a nail biter 67-65 that came down to final possession against Elon on Monday, December 22.
 
"I thought we played hard for forty minutes," head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. "We came out with a lot of energy and made some shots in the first half. I thought we moved the ball well at times. We defended better today than we did against UMBC. We just have to get a consistent effort. The highs and lows are what we have to eliminate. We're getting some new pieces in and getting them acclimated to it. It's a growing process in where we're going and what we're doing."
 
Orlando Coleman paced the Owls with 18 points going 7-11 from the field.
 
Bernard Morena matched a career high with 16 points. He also had six rebounds and three blocks.
 
In the final 4:03 of the game, the lead changed seven times with both teams answering when the other grabbed the lead. Elon had its largest lead of the game at 66-62 with 20 seconds to go, and Nigel Pruitt hit his lone three in the contest to get the Owls within one. Following one Elon free throw, the Owls inbounded the ball to Delbert Love who hoisted a three from the corner, but it came up short as time expired.
 
"In the second half I just kept telling them, we're taking some good shots," Lallathin added. "There were a handful that I didn't like, but you have to let players make plays. I'll give them that leash to make plays and some of the shots just didn't go."
 
The loss moves the Owls to 4-9 on the season.
 
At the start of the game, Coleman threw down an alley-oop from Yonel Brown to get the crowd on their feet and set the tone early. KSU used that momentum to go on a 10-0 run forcing Elon to take an early timeout.
 
The Owls pushed their lead to 15 at 26-11 after Coleman drained a three at the 11:58 mark.
 
After that three, the Phoenix went on a 12-0 run, cutting the deficit down to three, but Kennesaw State closed the half strong as they pushed its lead back to nine leading 40-31. The Owls shot 54.5 percent in the first half.
 
Coming out of halftime, Elon buckled down on defense holding the Owls scoreless for almost five minutes until Morena hit his second three of the game to push the lead back to six at 43-37.
 
Elon took its first lead with 9:35 to go up 49-48, but that didn't last long as Brown drove to the hoop and hit a layup as he was getting fouled. The 87 percent free throw shooter made his free throw putting the Owls back up by two.
 
After Elon came back to tie the score at 53, Brown stepped up once again nailing a three putting the Owls up 56-53 with 6:35 remaining. The Phoenix responded with a 4-0 run to go back up by one at 57-56, which led to the frenetic final four minutes that saw Elon take the two-point win.
 
"We have to continue to build for the A-Sun season," Lallathin said. "That's our goal is to continue to take steps forward. I thought today, especially after Saturday's game, we took a step forward to get back to where we need to be and where we need to be the rest of the season."
 
The next game, the Owls will continue their tough non-conference traveling to Champagne, Illinois to take on the Fighting Illini on December 26 at 9 p.m. ET.
 
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.