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KENNESAW, Ga.  – Kennesaw State men's basketball was in another nail biter on Thursday night in the KSU Convocation Center against defending ASUN Champions FGCU Eagles, but couldn't get a final three-point tying attempt off as the Eagles got the 78-75 victory.
 
"We had a lead and got careless with the ball for a couple of minutes giving them some runouts and easy buckets," head coach Al Skinner said. "That was basically the difference in the ball game. Once they got the lead, we kept going back and forth and when you play a good basketball team you have to be consistent with the ball. You always have to get your opportunities on the offensive end and we missed out on a couple of our opportunities. Those are the differences in the ball game."
 
Three players paced the Owls on offense as Nick Masterson led KSU with 21 points and seniors Kendrick Ray and Aubrey Williams each had 20.
 
Trailing by five with 18 seconds in the game, Williams secured his fifth offensive rebound of the game and laid the ball in while getting fouled. He cashed in on the free throw bringing the Owls within two.
 
After Gulf Coast inbounded the ball, Marc-Eddy Norelia got fouled and went 1-2 from the line opening the door for KSU to have a chance to tie.
 
With time about to expire, Tyler Hooker tried to get a three off, but had his attempt blocked giving FGCU the win.
 
To start the game, Gulf Coast surged to a lead, but Masterson engineered a 9-2 run for KSU to go up for the first time at 19-17.
 
After being up by five with 1:26 remaining in the half, Kennesaw State held a 38-37 lead at the break. The Owls assisted on nine of their 14 field goals in the first 20 minutes.
 
KSU came out of the locker room fired up and went on a 12-5 run to start the second half led by Ray and Masterson threes. FGCU had to use a timeout at the 17:26 mark with the Owls up 50-42.
 
Gulf Coast chipped away at the KSU lead for the next nine minutes before taking the lead back. Once FGCU had the lead back, the game was back and forth. The Owls had four attempts to reclaim the lead back in the final four minutes, but couldn't get a shot to fall to put them over the edge.
 
Not only did Masterson lead the team with 21 points, but he also led the team with five assists and three steals.
 
The defeat drops KSU to 6-12 and 0-2 in ASUN play.
 
The Owls are back at it soon as Stetson comes to town this Saturday, January 12. It will be a double header on Saturday with the women's basketball team playing first at 2 and then the men playing right after somewhere around 4:30.
 

#NestNotes

• KSU had three players score 20-plus points with Masterson leading the way with 21 and Ray and Williams each having 20. This is the first time this season that KSU has had three players eclipse the 20-point mark in the same game.
• Masterson is on an offensive tear over the last four games. The junior has made 25-37 field goals overall and is 16-19 from behind the arc. He currently is making his threes at a 52.5 percent clip from behind the arc.
• Ray once again scored over 20 points for the 12^th time this season.
• The Owls had 15 assists to 11 turnovers in the game.

 
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