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LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Flames were too hot for the Kennesaw State men's basketball team Thursday night as a stout Liberty defense held the Owls at bay to defeat KSU 83-45 at the Vines Center.
 
How it Happened: It was a back-and-forth start as the Owls (1-20, 0-8) and Flames (20-3, 6-2) traded buckets with a three-pointer from Jamie Lewis knotting it at 7-7. KSU missed its first two shots of the game and then proceeded to go 5-of-6 from the floor to stay within one, 12-11, at the 12:30 mark
 
A layup from Bryson Lockley kept KSU within range, 16-13, midway through the half before the Owls went cold. KSU did not record a made field goal in the final 10 minutes of the opening period as Liberty pushed its lead to 33-13 behind a 17-0 run. Tyler Hooker scored the Owls' final points of the half, draining five straight free throws to send KSU into the locker room trailing 34-18.
 
After a pair of free throws from Ugo Obineke to open the second half, LU responded with a 9-0 run to extend its lead to 43-20. Obineke finally snapped the Owls' cold streak with a layup at the 15:33 mark.
 
Obineke and Hooker ran the show in the second half, combining to score all 13 of KSU's points in the opening 10 minutes. Despite their efforts, the Flames remained in control as a 10-0 run put them on top 64-31 with nine minutes left to play. C.J. Washington attempted to spark some life into the Owls with back-to-back three-pointers, but Liberty answered with a trey of its own for a 9-2 swing.
 
Liberty shot 64 percent in the second half to secure the victory.
 
Notes: Tyler Hooker extended his double-digit scoring streak to 11 games, finishing with a team-high 12 points … Ugo Obineke was second on the team with eight points … Liberty outscored KSU 52-18 in the paint … KSU's 20 rebounds marked a season-low.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
On Liberty starting off strong…
"That's what champions are made of. We talked about it tonight, with [Liberty] coming off two losses we knew they were going to be chomping at the bit, so we knew they were going to be ready to go. I was proud of us throwing that first punch and hanging in there for the first two rounds or so. I thought it was good, but they did what champions do and they responded. Their seniors, Scottie [James], Caleb [Homesley] and even Myo [baxter-Bell] when he came in, they put their imprint on the game and our guys they're still trying to learn, in a sense, how to create an imprint. They did what they were supposed to do, unbelievable coach, obviously, a well ran program."
 
On the cold stretch in the first half…
"[Liberty] had something to do with it. I think they got about three or four deflections and when we were running our offense we got to a point where we stopped cutting, where we didn't have the attention to detail, but a lot of that is because of them. I think a big part about our team, when you're going through a season that we're going through, is it hits at a certain part of the game and it's like 'here we go again' instead of fighting and saying 'ok we're not going to back down from it, we're going to stay true to what we're doing.' So I thought it was a little bit of them and then I thought it was a little bit of us too, just poor shot selection in that period that ended up pushing it to 20."
 
On the keys in the second half of ASUN play to make a late push…
"The biggest thing is going to be belief, I really believe that. We played a heck of a non-conference schedule, but I think that every game that we played in conference, with the exception of this one, we had consistent moments where we could play with the other teams. It just so happens we lose sight of what we do offensively sometimes and it trickles over to the defensive end where we are not competing and playing as hard. We've got to eliminate that mindset, we've got to eliminate that energy out of our program and I think that in the second half of conference our team will be fine."
 
Up Next: The Owls close out the weekend at North Florida Saturday at 5 p.m.