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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State men's basketball team earned its first win of the Abdur-Rahim era Friday night with a gritty 85-61 victory over Gardner-Webb at the Convocation Center.
 
With only seven players available for the game, the Owls came together to shoot 68 percent in the second half, out-scoring GWU 53-32 in the period, to pull away and down the Runnin' Bulldogs.
 
Four Owls finished the game in double-figures, led by Tyler Hooker with 27 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds. Both Bryson Lockley (12) and Drew Romich (10) finished with double-digit boards with Lockley recording 17 points to tie his career-high and record a double-double.
 
How it Happened: Adili Kuerban opened the night with a big three-pointer on KSU's (1-8) first possession. GWU (3-7) fought back to level the game as the two squads proceeded to trade buckets tied at 9-9 with 14 minutes to go. The Runnin' Bulldogs pulled in front thanks to an 11-3 run to lead 20-12 at the 10:30 mark.
 
Hooker finally halted the run with the jumper before the Owls netted three straight treys courtesy of Kuerban, Lockley and Hooker to cut the lead to four, 27-23. KSU closed out the half on a 7-0 run, capped off by yet another three-pointer from Kuerban to take a 32-29 lead at the half. Kuerban finished the game 4-of-9 from beyond the arc for a career-high 12 points.
 
The Owls kept their foot on the gas out of the locker room, opening the half on a 7-2 run to push their lead to 39-31. Another long-range bucket from Kuerban and a jumper from Hooker pushed KSU's lead to double-figures, 44-34, less than four minutes into the half. The Owls piled it on, going on a 14-0 run and shooting over 80 percent for the half at one point for a 58-37 advantage following a layup from Pietro Agostini with 12:20 still to play.
 
Gardner-Webb attempted to cut into KSU's lead, but the Owls had an answer for each bucket to maintain their 20-point cushion. Obineke, Spencer and Hooker all hit double-digits in the second half alone with Hooker netting 18 of his 27 points in the second period, capping off the game with a trey just 30 seconds before the final buzzer.
 
Notes: This is the second straight game the Owls have had four or more players finish in double-figures … Tyler Hooker's 27 points marks his second straight game with 20 or more points scored … Bryson Lockley recorded his sixth career double-double, first of the season … Ugo Obineke was the fourth Owl in double-figures with 19 points … KSU made 12 three-pointers, the first time since February of 2014 the Owls netted 12 or more treys … the Owls recorded 18 assists, seven from Hooker, five from Drew Romich and four from Lockley … KSU out-rebounded GWU 42-34 … as a team, KSU totaled a season-high 18 assists.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
On getting the first win…
"I feel good. I'm happier for the guys more than anything. We've had some stuff hit us and that's kind of part of it. Terrell Burden gets a concussion against FIU so he's in protocol and not able to go tonight, find out some unfortunate news with Armani Harris so we didn't have him tonight. You're talking about your leading scorer and your leading rebounder. We're going to build our program around character and accountability, and we didn't have three other guys for reasons that were detrimental to the team, but I'll tell you this the seven guys that we had out there tonight were the right seven. They were locked in, it was one heartbeat, it was one mind, it was one goal. It was thrilling for them because they believed in what we've talked about."
 
On playing freely…
"I think what tonight was more than anything, and we have to carry it over once we get back to full strength, is that we have to play with a free mind. I tell them all the time 'someone tell me who I've told not to shoot the ball.' We want them shooting the ball, we just want them taking good shots. Tonight, in a sense, they didn't have a choice, so they had to let it go. We have to bottle that up and bring it back when we are at full strength."
 
On big performers…
"I can't say enough about Tyler Hooker tonight. To play 40 minutes, 27 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two turnovers, that's unbelievable. He's starting to play like the senior leader we need him to be. Same with Bryson Lockley. And I'll tell you a guy who doesn't get a lot of praise a lot of times, but Ugo Obineke, he started the game out, he struggled, and we just keep talking to him about being confident in himself, believing in himself and he did an unbelievable job tonight of bouncing back. That's the type of guy we need in our program."
 
On pushing through the early struggles…
"We've done a good job, our staff, and I can't praise them enough. They've done a good job of remaining positive with these guys, they've done a good job of remaining positive with me. Just pulling through, and that's the thing I love about what we're building here at Kennesaw State. We just have to continue to grow, continue to build our character and continue to hold each other accountable and if we do that, we'll have a lot more outcomes like this. We are happy about it, but we're not satisfied there is a lot more to go get."
 
Up Next: The Owls will take this momentum on the road as they square off with Murray State Monday followed by Belmont Wednesday.