Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML) | Photo Gallery

KENNESAW, GA. – The Kennesaw State men's basketball team had a nice showing in Monday night's exhibition, taking down Reinhardt 69-52 in front of 1,556 fans at the Convocation Center.
 
How it Happened: The Eagles (2-4) opened the game with a three-pointer by Dwayne Wilson, but the Owls (0-3) responded quickly with a huge dunk from Antonio Spencer to spark a run and take the lead 6-3. Terrell Burden and Adili Kuerban combined for 12 of the next 14 points to help stretch the lead to 20-13 with 10:17 still to play.
 
The Eagles rallied back to tie the game at 20-20 with 7:32 to go, but the Owls regained their lead with a quick 6-0 run capped off by a jumper from Tyler Hooker. KSU maintained their lead the rest of the half thanks in large part to their free throw shooting, going 7-of-8 down the stretch and finishing the half 16-of-21 from the charity stripe. Armani Harris and Bryson Lockley led the team with eight points each to help KSU head into the locker room with a 39-25 lead.
 
The Eagles clawed back to open the second half, going on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to eight, 39-31. Spencer brought Reinhardt's run to an end and sparked some life into the Owls with a thunderous block to spur an 8-0 run for KSU to lead 49-34. The two teams proceeded to trade points as the Eagles worked their way back to within seven, 52-59, with 3:57 to go. That would be as close as the Eagles would get as Hooker and freshman Bobby Miller drilled three-pointers on the next three possessions to extend the Owls' lead to 68-50 with just over two minutes to go.
 
Notes: Three Owls hit double-digits as Tyler Hooker led the team with 17 followed by Terrell Burden with 12 … Armani Harris was the third Owl in double-figures with 10 points … Harris and Antonio Spencer each pulled down a team-high eight rebounds … Burden Finished the night with six steals … the Owls shot 47.1 percent from the floor compared to 29.8 for Reinhardt.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
On the fan turnout…
"We really appreciate our fans for showing out. Our students were great today, we went out on campus and engaged with them … and so we are very appreciative of them coming. You know, we have got to get better and give them a reason to cheer, but we appreciate them coming out."
 
On the exhibition…
"[Reinhardt] does a really good job of trying to speed up the pace of the game. For us, that's good because a lot of the teams we play right now are trying to do the same thing to us. Our guards have been doing a good job of taking care of the ball against the press. Where we have to get better at, and where we need to grow, is our decision making once we break it. I thought a couple times tonight we did a good job of breaking the press and making good decisions and then there were a couple times where we were baited into taking quick shots and now we are back on the end playing defense."
 
On Tyler Hooker…
"Tyler Hooker is being asked to do something this year that I don't think he's ever been asked to do and that's not only give us a scoring punch, but we are asking him to lead and lead vocally. That's not an easy thing to do… to his credit he has done an unbelievable job of buying into that role and embracing it. Him leading us early on with his voice was big and then of course down the stretch he did what he does from a senior standpoint and make big buckets and open the game back up for us."
 
Up Next: The Owls head to Florida for the ASUN/MAAC Challenge this weekend, opening a four-game road stretch with Monmouth Friday night at 8:30 p.m. followed by Iona on Saturday.