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AMHERST, MASS.  – Senior guard Kendrick Ray poured in 35 in head coach Al Skinner's return to his alma mater, but it wasn't enough as the UMass Minutemen pulled away in the second half to win 95-77.
 
"I'm always pleased to come back and play here," Skinner said. "I did so when I was at BC and did so when I was at Rhode Island. It's a great place to come back to and still have a lot of friends in the area."
 
The 35 points for Ray was one shy of the Kennesaw State Division I record and six away from a Gotham Classic record.
 
In the first half, the Owls held the lead for 7:52 and didn't relinquish it until Luwane Pipkins got hot from the outside. The largest lead for KSU came when Nick Masterson hit one of his two three pointers of the game pushing Kennesaw State's lead to five at the 11:15 mark in the first stanza.
 
Shortly after the Masterson three, the Minutemen used a 13-3 run to go up six and continued to push their lead out to 10. The Owls battled back before half to cut the deficit to six headed into the final 20 minutes.
 
Out of the locker room, the Minutemen were the aggressors converting two old-fashioned three-point plays and another three by Pipkins to go up 12 forcing Skinner to use a timeout 1:20 into the second half.
 
The Owls weren't done yet though after being down by as many as 14, the two seniors Ray and Williams tried to lead a comeback. The two got KSU back within six with some clutch free throw shooting. In the second half alone, both players were a combined 13-13 from the charity stripe.
 
After inching closer, UMass went on a quick 5-0 spurt ending he Owls dream of an upset. Once the Minutemen got the lead back into double-figures, they closed out the game to secure the victory.
 
With the loss, KSU falls to 0-2 in the Gotham Classic and 3-8 overall on the season. Kennesaw State has one more road game to finish out six straight on the road before heading home to play N.C. A&T on December 22 at 2 p.m.
 
Next up though, KSU will play Pacific on Tuesday, December 20.

#NestNotes

• With the 35 points, Ray scored over 30 for the third time this season and fifth time in his career. He was one away from setting a Kennesaw State single-game record. Two seasons, ago Yonel Brown scored 36 against Thomas University.
• Williams was the other Owl in double figures, with 14 points. The team double-double leader was one rebound shy of another double-double however as he finished with nine boards in the game.
• As a team, Kennesaw State went 23-26 from the free throw line. That is the second most free throws made and attempted in a game this season. The most came against Alabama State when KSU was 24-28 from the charity stripe.

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