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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Nigel Pruitt got off to a hot start on the road in conference play pouring in 32 points for the Kennesaw State men's basketball team, but USC Upstate held on for a 68-65 victory.
 
"I was proud of our guys effort," head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. "I liked our guys mental toughness and ability to respond when they went on runs. We made a couple mistakes that we'll learn from. There are no moral victories, but our effort, energy and mental toughness is as close as I want it to be as it has been all season."
 
The 32 points sets a new career high for Pruitt after he had previously scored 29 points earlier this season against Youngstown State. The six threes he made tied a school record for the second time this season.
 
Down 66-62 with 48 seconds to go, Pruitt hit one of his threes to cut the lead to one. Seven seconds later he took a charge to give the Owls the ball back down one.
 
On the next offensive possession, Pruitt drove to the basket and put up a shot, but it was blocked by Upstate's center Michael Buchanan.
 
Upstate made both free throws going back up by three with 13 seconds left. Orlando Coleman had a look, but the shot didn't fall and the Spartans clinched the victory.
 
The loss makes the Owls 5-12 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.
 
In the first half, KSU came out and set the tone on defense taking three charges in the first ten minutes that helped them to a 13-12 lead.
 
With the score 17-16, a Damien Wilson layup and Pruitt three pointer gave the Owls their largest lead of the half at six up 22-16 with 5:15 left.
 
Upstate responded with a 13-0 run to go up by seven. With time winding down in the opening half, the Spartan's leading scorer, Ty Greene, picked up his third personal foul and then was given a technical to give him his fourth personal in the first half. Brown made the two technical free throws and Delbert Love made both of his free throws to make the score a three-point game with Upstate leading 29-26 at halftime.
 
In the second half, USC Upstate stretched out its lead to 10 up 53-43 with 9:16 remaining and Pruitt caught fire. He went on to score nine straight points for Kennesaw State bringing the score back to 53-52, and the game was tight from there on out.
 
Pruitt scored 16 of the final 22 points for the Owls.
 
Yonel Brown also got in double figures scoring 10 points with eight of those coming in the second half. He also had seven assists.
 
The Owls will continue conference play on the road next Wednesday, January 14 against Northern Kentucky at 7 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.