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KENNESAW, GA – Armani Harris' double-double combined with Tyler Hooker's 20 points led a tremendous showing from the Kennesaw State men's basketball team as the Owls pushed visiting FIU to the limit in a hard fought 84-81 loss Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.

How it Happened: Down 41-30, KSU (0-8) came out fired up to start the second half with back-to-back jumpers to cut the lead to seven. FIU (7-3) answered with two straight treys, but Antonio Spencer put the team on his back with eight points in the first four minutes to keep it manageable, 52-40. KSU matched FIU shot-for-shot until a quick 8-2 run gave the Panthers a 62-47 lead with 12:21 to play.

The Owls gradually chipped away at the Panthers lead until five straight points from C.J. Washington and a big three-pointer from Hooker put KSU within six, 75-69, with three minutes to go. FIU responded with back-to-back jumpers, but Burden kept the momentum going for KSU with another trey on the following possession. KSU cut the lead to five after a dunk from Bryson Lockley with just over 30 seconds left to put the Panthers in scramble mode. The Owls kept the pressure on FIU forcing a turnover after a Hooker layup which led to a huge three-pointer from Washington to make it 83-81 with two seconds left.

The Owls comeback attempt simply ran out of time as FIU sank a free throw with less than a second on the clock to escape with the victory. KSU outscored FIU 51-43 in the second half, shooting 50 percent from the floor, with both Spencer (12) and Washington (10) netting double-figures in the second period. Harris was also clutch recording eight of his 10 points and eight of his career-high 15 rebounds in the second period alone.

The Panthers pulled in front to open the game with a 6-1 advantage before Ugo Obineke netted KSU's first jumper of the game at the 17:13 mark. It was a strong defensive showing in the early minutes as both teams went nearly three minutes without a bucket at one point. FIU finally broke the drought with a bucket at the 12:24 mark, pushing its lead to double-digits, 15-5, following a dunk.

The Owls and Panthers traded buckets as KSU attempted to keep the lead to single-digits thanks to a combined 18 points from Hooker and freshman Terrell Burden. A 10-3 run gave FIU its largest lead of the half, 36-21, with two minutes to play. Not backing down, the Owls closed out the half on a 7-2 run, five points from Hooker, to head into the locker room trailing 41-30.

Notes: Armani Harris recorded KSU's first double-double of the season with 10 points and 15 rebounds, a career-high mark … Tyler Hooker netted a season-high 20 points and eight rebounds … five Owls finished the game in double-figures, Hooker (20), Terrell Burden (15), C.J. Washington (14), Antonio Spencer (12) and Harris (10) … KSU out-rebounded FIU 43-37 thanks to 15 boards from Harris and eight each from Hooker and Spencer … Bryson Lockley logged a season-high three blocks to go with two steals … the Owls shot a season-high 43.8 percent from the floor … KSU finished 21-of-33 from the free throw line.

Quotes: Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
On the difference between the first and second half…
"It was a great second half effort. I told the guys after the game, I very rarely talk about the game after the game because there is a lot of emotion in it, but it's glaring when we play hard and play with an effort and a level of trust that we're pretty good, and we can be very competitive. We started the game out with a lack of competitiveness and trust in what our gameplan was and it put us in a whole. Right now, we're not built to overcome those things or have big comebacks like that. So, we have to find a way to shore up our first half woes."

On Antonio Spencer's turnaround in the second half…
"Antonio has been ready to break through because he is a kid who comes to practice every day and he gives us great effort, great energy, he works hard. A lot of it is believing in himself. Telling him you've done this everyday against pads and people just pushing and banging on you, that should give you confidence to go out and finish in a game. In the second half, he was a big plus for us. Now we have to find a way to bottle that up and have him carry that over to practice, carry that over to games because when he can get you 12 [points] and eight [rebounds], if we can get that from him every night, and he's capable of it, we'll be a much better team. We have to continue to improve and continue to improve on little things, the small details, but our competitiveness can never be in question. That was the thing that I was most disappointed in in the first half."

Up Next: The Owls close out their two-game homestand next Friday night, hosting Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.