Score: Kennesaw State 67, NJIT 75
Records: Kennesaw State (6-17, 2-5), NJIT (12-11, 3-4)
Key Players: Yonel Brown (19 points and four assists), Kendrick Ray (15 points), Aubrey Williams (8 points and four rebounds)
 
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KENNESAW, Ga. – After falling down big early, Kennesaw State came back to tie the game, but the NJIT Highlanders pushed ahead in the final minutes behind strong free throw shooting to secure an A-Sun victory over the Owls.
 
Yonel Brown led the Owls in points with 19 and also had four assists.
 
Both teams started the game ice cold from the floor as Kennesaw State started 1-9 and NJIT was 2-9. The Highlanders heated up first hitting seven straight field goals including five three pointers to go up 27-8 in the first ten minutes of the game.
 
Needing a spark, Kyle Clarke and Kosta Jankovic came off the bench to provide just that with the Owls. Over the next seven minutes, KSU went on a 16-0 run to get back in the game down 29-26. KSU held NJIT without a field goal for over 6:30 on the game clock during the run.
 
The Owls trailed 34-29 at the break, and KSU's bench scored 19 of the 29 points in the first half.
 
Coming out of the break, the Highlanders quickly pushed there lead back up to eight before Brown and Ray got going to tie the game at 43 with 13:57 to go in the game.
 
Once the game was tied, the Owls had trouble getting the ball to go in the net. They were scoreless for the next four minutes and that allowed NJIT to retake the lead up by six. NJIT wouldn't let the Owls back in it after that by sinking 23-29 free throws in the game.
 
Kennesaw State falls to 6-17 overall and is 2-5 in conference play.
 
It will be a quick turnaround for the Owls' as they will host USC Upstate on Monday, February 1 at 7 p.m. right here in the KSU Convocation Center.
 
On What Led to the Big Run in the First Half
"What happened in the second part of the first half is we started showing more patience on the offensive end. We executed and scored some points, which allowed us to set our defense. When you miss a lot of shots that lead to long rebounds it gets guys out of position and we were not in good defensive position. Credit to our bench for coming in and executed some things that allowed us to fight back and make it a lot more respectable."
 - Kennesaw State Head Coach Al Skinner
 
 Notes
- Kennesaw State won the rebound battle for the second game in a row. The Owls came down with 35 and NJIT had 34.
- This was the first matchup for the Owls and the Highlanders. The second matchup will be soon as KSU will play in Newark on February 6.
- Mentioned in the story above, the Kennesaw State bench provided a come back for the Owls in the first half scoring 19 of the 29 points for the Owls. Jankovic and Clarke both had six points, Aubrey Williams had four points and Nigel Pruitt had three points.
 
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.