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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Kennesaw State's men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with Atlantic Sun leading Florida Gulf Coast Thursday night, but just got edged in the final seconds to lose 54-53.
 
With less than a minute left, the Owls held a one-point lead with the ball, and Bernard Thompson forced a steal and fed Jamail Jones for a layup to put FGCU up 54-53.
 
On the ensuing possession, Orlando Coleman got an open look just behind the arc, but couldn't get it to fall. The Owls had one more chance, but had to go the full length of the floor with 1.9 seconds left and couldn't get a shot off.
 
"We played a heck of a game," Jimmy Lallathin said. "I thought our guys battled and it was probably one of the most complete games we've played so far this season. That was a great atmosphere against the favorite in the league and I thought we went toe-to-toe with them. We had the best mindset we've had all yaer. I thought Gulf Coast made some runs on us, and we didn't lose our composure. You look down in the second half and we had good looks and they didn't fall. Our execution was pretty good most of the game.
 
Nigel Pruitt led Kennesaw State with 19 points and was one rebound away from having his second straight double-double.
 
Coleman was the other Owl in double figures with 11.
 
In the first half, KSU came out of the locker room on fire hitting 7 of 11 three pointers in the opening frame.
 
After falling down 15-11, Yonel Brown and Pruitt combined to hit four straight three pointers to spark a 16-2 run and held the Eagles scoreless for a stretch of 7:11.
 
The suffocating Kennesaw State defense held FGCU to 2 of 16 the final 12:30 in the opening half.
 
Brown and Pruitt combined to go 7-9 from three-point land to lead the Owls to a 31-23 halftime lead.
 
In the second half, the sellout crowd tried to urge FGCU on, but every time they made a run the Owls had an answer by breaking the full court press and getting layups.
 
At the 10:29 mark, the Owls got in the open floor once again and Damien Wilson tossed an alley-oop to Coleman for a slam that gave KSU a 48-40 lead.
 
The next Kennesaw State basket came at the 4:47 mark when Coleman tipped in a Jordan Jones miss to keep the Owls in front 50-45.
 
The Eagles got their first lead since early in the first half when Comer made a layup to put FGCU up 51-50, but quickly answered when Coleman made a three giving the Owls the lead back.
 
After, FGCU went 1 of 2 from the free throw line and trailed by one, the Owls had a chance to extend their lead, but the steal by Thompson led to the go ahead layup.
 
KSU falls to 9-19 overall and 3-8 in the A-Sun.
 
The Owls will be back in action at Stetson on Saturday, February 21 at 1 p.m.
 
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.