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KENNESAW, Ga.  – The Kennesaw State men's basketball team secured a huge 76-73 road victory against Tennessee State in their final non-conference game of the season at the Genrty Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
After the Owls had led the majority of the game, Tennessee State went on a 10-0 run to take a 62-61 lead, but junior Nick Masterson stepped up and hit back-to-back threes putting KSU back up 67-62 with 2:27 remaining. From there, KSU went 8-10 from the free throw line in the final two minutes and played good defense on the final TSU possession to hand the Tigers their first home loss of the season.
 
Three Owls scored in double figures with Kendrick Ray leading the team with 20 points and Masterson and Tyler Hooker each having 15. The 15 points for Hooker was a career high for the freshman.
 
In the first half, Kennesaw State got off to a great start with hot outside shooting. The Owls used an early 8-1 run to go up 14-7 after a couple of threes by Ray and Masterson.
 
Later in the half, KSU extended their lead to 12 with a couple more threes from James Scott and Ray. The Owls were 7-11 overall from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.
 
After leading by eight points at the break, the Owls came out of the locker room and pushed their lead to 14 before the first media timeout.
 
Playing at home, Tennessee State wasn't going to go quietly though. With 8:50 remaining, Scott hit his second three of the night to put KSU up 61-52 and the Tigers began their comeback. After a 10-0 run by TSU and Kennesaw State had lost their lead, Masterson knocked down the two straight three pointers to put the Owls up for good. The clutch free throw shooting for the Owls in the final two minutes helped tame the Tigers in the Gentry Center.
 
It was the first loss at home this season for the 61^st ranked team in the RPI.
 
Now, Kennesaw State will begin ASUN play next Saturday, January 7 back in Nashville, Tennessee at Lipscomb. It will be the second game of a double-header scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. with Kennesaw State's women's basketball team playing right before.

#NestNotes

• The road victory makes the Owls record 6-10 going into the ASUN play this weekend. It was the second victory in a row for Kennesaw State.
• Ray's 20 points once again led the Owls. The senior scored over 20 points for the 10^th time and he has scored in double-figures in every game this season.
• After going 7-11 in the first half from three, the Owls finished the game 11-19 with the two biggest ones coming from Masterson to put the Owls back up in the game.
• Kennesaw State had seven blocks in the game led by Jordan Jones who had three of those.
• Hooker set a new career high with 15 points going 3-5 from the field and 8-10 from the free throw line.

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.