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KENNESAW, Ga. – Freshman Ugo Obineke played the hero Saturday evening, draining a last second jumper to put the Kennesaw State men's basketball team on top of NJIT 63-62 in a hotly contested game in front of 1,100 fans at the Convocation Center.
 
How it happened: The tone was set early on as the Owls (5-20, 2-8) and the Highlanders (18-7, 6-4) came out of the gate trading shots with back-to-back buckets from Bobby Parker giving KSU a 7-6 advantage at the 16:35 mark. After two free throws from Tyler Hooker, NJIT went on a 7-0 run to regain the lead 13-9.
 
NJIT maintained its slim lead as the two defenses held one another scoreless for over three minutes before a jumper from Danny Lewis ended the stalemate. KSU eventually tied the game back up, 21-21, following jumpers from Obineke and Hooker with just over four minutes left in the half.
 
The Highlanders answered with two straight three-pointers, but four points from Isaac Mbuyamba pulled KSU within two, 30-28, at the end of the half.
 
After a layup from Bryson Lockley to open the second half put both teams on level terms, KSU and NJIT proceeded to go point-for-point with the Highlanders maintaining a slim 44-43 lead midway through the period. The two teams traded buckets, and the lead, for the next seven minutes, playing to a 56-56 tie following a jumper from Hooker with 3:19 to play.
 
Following two free throws by the Highlanders, Parker put the KSU back in front with a clutch three-pointer at the 1:22 mark. NJIT's Zach Cooks responded on the other end with a layup and the foul to swing the score in favor of the Highlanders, 61-59. Cooks missed the ensuing free throw leading to a fadeaway jumper from Kosta Jankovic to force a timeout from NJIT with KSU leading 61-60 and 37 seconds to play.
 
Out of the timeout, the Highlanders earned a trip to the free throw line following a foul from Obineke. After NJIT's Diandre Wilson made both free throws, the freshman from Rowlett, Texas made up for the error, working his way around the paint for a catch-and-shoot jumper to give KSU the 63-62 lead. The Highlanders attempted a last second shot of their own, but the missed layup fell into the hands of Obineke.
 
Notes: A tight game down to the wire, there were 11 ties and 21 lead changes in the game, seven ties and 17 lead changes in the second half alone … coming into the game, Ugo Obineke had made only one bucket over the last five games, he finished 3-of-7 for six points and two rebounds … Tyler Hooker led all scorers with 17 points, his sixth straight game with 15 or more points … Bobby Parker netted 14 points, his fourth straight game, sixth of the last seven, with 10 or more points … every Owl to hit the floor tonight recorded at least one made bucket … Isaac Mbuyamba was one point shy of his career-high with eight points to go along with six rebounds … After going 7-of-9 from the free throw line, Hooker moved into fifth on the KSU DI single-season record list with 128 made free throws this year … Bryson Lockley led the team with seven boards, logging two blocks in back-to-back games … Antonio Spencer recorded one block, his sixth straight game with at least one block … The Owls out-rebounded NJIT 34-28, leading to 12 second chance points compared to two for the Highlanders.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Al Skinner
On tonight's win…
"The most important thing was that I think we really maintained our composure. We showed some patience on the offensive end, we shared the basketball, and a number of guys made shots coming down the stretch, which is important for the way that we want to play. Because of that we got good shots every time down and that is the thing that is most important. Winning a close ballgame, you have to make your free throws and be able to get good execution and I think we did that on the offensive end. Defensively, it wasn't as good as we would've liked, but I think we can get better there."
 
On the back-and-forth second half…
"Again, we've been talking all year long about executing, sharing the basketball, trusting your teammates. When you lack trust, then you make bad basketball decisions and it creates bad basketball. It's important that we run our stuff. If guys are getting shots in areas that they are comfortable in then that is going to create your success. When you get away from the game plan is when you start to struggle."
 
On Obineke's last-second shot…
"He was in an area that he was comfortable in, and that's what we wanted to do. Whether it was going to be him, whether it was going to be Bobby [Parker], whether it was going to be Tyler [Hooker], we wanted to shoot the ball that we were going to be comfortable with and get a good shot. It just so happened that he was able to get to the area that he was comfortable in and was able to make the shot, but it's more because we shared the basketball. Because of that we got good execution and he got a good shot."
 
On the team's recent play…
"We are growing and we are trying to get guys to understand that in order for us to be successful we have to bring what we do in practice, to the game. When we start doing things in the game that we don't do in practice it becomes a distraction and it's not really healthy. Today we did things offensively that we have done in practice. Defensively, you're always going to have to rely on officials to call a good game, but offensively is the thing you have the most control over so I'm very pleased with our execution and the shots we got. I can only think of one ill-advised shot in the last five minutes of the ballgame."
 
 Up next: The Owls return to Florida to take on the Ospreys of North Florida Wednesday (Feb. 13) at 7 p.m.