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KENNESAW, Ga. – A parliament of performances from the Kennesaw State men's basketball team was not enough to slow down Elon Tuesday night as the Phoenix utilized the three-point line to defeat the Owls 76-67.
 
Three Owls finished in double-figures as both Bryson Lockley and Tyler Hooker set career-highs with 14 and nine rebounds, respectively. Hooker flirted with a triple-double logging a team-high 18 points and six assists to go along with his nine rebounds.
 
How it Happened: Elon (4-8) set the tone early, draining their first three attempts from beyond the arc, netting back-to-back treys to take a 15-8 lead over the Owls (2-10) at the 15:10 mark. The Phoenix would miss their next four three-point attempts as KSU rallied to tie the game, 17-17, behind a 7-0 run.
 
Elon found their stroke once again, scoring three straight three-pointers to bounce back in front 26-19 with under nine minutes to play. Kosta Jankovic answered with a three-pointer of his own to spark a 7-0 run for KSU to tie the game up yet again at 28-28. The two teams traded buckets the rest of the half, with a pair of last second free throws from Isaac Mbuyamba sending KSU into the locker room trailing Elon by one, 37-36, at halftime.
 
Jankovic led the team with 11 points in the first half as KSU finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 50 percent from the floor.
 
The second half opened in similar fashion as Elon sank a three-pointer to open the scoring. KSU kept within shooting distance as the two teams went shot-for-shot in the opening minutes. The Owls got as close as two points, 55-53, following three straight jumpers from Hooker with under 10 minutes to play.
 
The Phoenix responded with another three-pointer followed by a 7-2 run to gain a nine-point cushion, 69-60, at the 3:53 mark. The Owls attempted to rally, but Elon was able to answer each KSU bucket to hold on and win.
 
Hooker scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, while Lockley logged 11 of his 14 rebounds during the second period. Elon finished the game 11-of-33 from three-point range.
 
Notes: Tyler Hooker's 18 points marks his 10th straight game in double-figures … Hooker tied his season-high with six assists while setting a new career-high in rebounds with nine, breaking his previous record of seven … Kosta Jankovic netted a season-high 17 points, two shy of his career-high, shooting 60 percent from the floor and tying his career-high with three three-pointers … Bryson Lockley's 14 rebounds is the most by an Owl this season and marks his third game this season with double-digit boards … Danny Lewis hit double-digits for the first time in his career with 12 points on the night … KSU finished the night shooting 44.3 percent from the floor, their third game in a row shooting 40 percent or better … Kyle Clarke logged a career-high two blocks as Isaac Mbuyamba extended his streak of at least one block to three games recording one.

Quotes: head Coach Al Skinner
On tonight's game…
"The thing that probably disappointed me the most was just our overall defense, just how inconsistent it was. We did not really execute our gameplan as well as we should have defensively and it created some opportunities for them and they took advantage of it. Again, it just speaks to our inexperience and lack of recognition. We knew it was going to be a challenge, we knew what we had to do, but again we didn't consistently execute it.
 
On the defensive struggles…
"If this team is going to make the strides that we need to, we've got to be more consistent on the defensive end. We've got to be able to execute our defense consistently. There were times that we made a lot of mistakes and created a lot of easy opportunities for them and we cannot afford to have that. The difference between this game and the last game is that we did not create those easy opportunities and tonight we did, so we have to take away those mistakes. We take away those errors, then we win the ballgame."
 
On having to quickly refocus for the next game…
"It's a whole different circumstance going into the next game. I'm sure we'll be fine, we'll bounce back."
 
Up next: It's a short turnaround for the Owls as they welcome Southeastern to the Convocation Center Thursday afternoon, closing out their three-game homestand at 4 p.m.