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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Kennesaw State basketball team fell to a hot-shooting Samford squad, 74-60, Monday night in a three-point shootout at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
How it happened: Kosta Jankovic started off hot once again, hitting the Owls (1-2) first two jumpers to make it 5-4 with 16:38 left in the half. Then Samford (3-0) began to pull away, going on a 15-0 run that spanned six minutes to lead 20-4.
 
Freshman Antonio Spencer finally broke the run with a put back dunk to spark a 10-3 run, capped off by back-to-back three pointers from Bobby Parker to pull KSU within 10, 23-14, at the 8:36 mark. Samford responded with the next six points, but the Owls closed out the first half with a vengeance, going on a 12-2 run over the final four minutes to close out the half trailing 31-26.
 
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a three-pointer, setting the tone for what would be a second half show from beyond the arc. The two teams combined to go 11-20 from three-point range in the second half.
 
The Bulldogs kept KSU at arm's length throughout the first portion of the second half, answering each Owl bucket to maintain at least an eight-point lead. KSU got to within five-points following another three-pointer from Parker followed by a layup from Tyler Hooker to make it 50-45 at the 9:40 mark.
 
That would be as close as KSU would get though as Samford responded with two three-pointers and a layup to push its lead back to double-digits, 58-47. The Bulldogs had three players record 10 or more points in the second half, finishing 6-of-11 from three-point range.
 
Hooker scored 12 points in the second half, while Parker recorded three of his five three-pointers in the final 20 minutes.
 
Notes: Junior transfer Bobby Parker paced the Owls with 21 points, going 5-of-7 from three-point range … Parker's five three-pointers was one shy of cracking the KSU single-game top-10 record list … Tyler Hooker was the second Owl to finish in double-figures with 17 points … Bryson Lockley had a solid all-around game leading the team with eight rebounds while adding six points and three assists … freshman Antonio Spencer continued his streak with at least one block, logging one block, six rebounds and four points ... KSU got a lot of production from it's reserves with 28 points scored from its bench.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Al Skinner
On KSU's up-and-down play...
"First of all, obviously we shot the ball extremely well in the second half. We gave up too many open looks, really didn't hustle to the shooters like we are supposed to, didn't play very aggressive of a zone defense that was somewhat effective for us in the first half. That has to improve. You have got to give an effort defensively regardless of what defense you're playing, and we did not consistently give that. We still have to do that better, and with a young team you're looking for execution, both offensively and defensively. It was inconsistent and that's what makes for the fluctuation in our games. When we get a little more consistent and a little more experience, then we'll come out on the other end of this. But it's going to take us a little time, because we have guys who haven't played a lot together and now we are putting it all together. We are staying competitive, we are not getting blown out, that's the good part, but that's not what our goal is, our goal is to win basketball games and we will start to do that, but we definitely have to improve our execution on the offensive end, defensively we have to be more consistent with our defensive intensity."
 
Up next: The Owls have the next few days off before heading south to play in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Tournament. KSU opens tournament play Friday at 4 p.m. ET against Missouri.