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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Kennesaw State men's basketball team halted the Bisons in their tracks late in the second half, but Lipscomb was able to hang on and down the Owls 85-73 Thursday night in Nashville.
 
Tyler Hooker made his return to the court in spectacular fashion, netting 24 points. He was joined by redshirt freshman Jamie Lewis who scored a career-high 24 points as well.
 
How it Happened: The Owls (1-15, 0-3) and Bisons (7-9, 2-1) traded buckets to open the game with Hooker draining a three-pointer to open his first game back from injury and give KSU a 7-6 lead. After a quick 6-0 run put Lipscomb on top, the Bisons extended their lead to double-figures behind an 11-1 swing to lead 23-10 with just over 10 minutes to play.
 
Drew Romich finally ended the Bisons' charge with a jumper in the lane before Lewis came alive with nine straight points to pull KSU within four, 27-23. The two squads went back-and-forth in the final five minutes, with Hooker netting the Owls' final six points of the half, as two straight layups from the Bisons gave Lipscomb the 39-31 lead at the buzzer.
 
Lipscomb came out firing to open the second half going 7-of-7 from the floor, 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, to push its lead to 56-39 at the 15:16 mark. Lewis kept the Owls fighting recording two of his three treys on the night in the opening minutes.
 
KSU attempted to cut the lead down to single-digits, but back-to-back three-pointers from the Bisons opened a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 67-46 with 8:21 to play. After trading buckets to trail 76-54, John Ogwuche netted his first career bucket to spark a 17-1 run and cut the lead to single digits 77-71 with 2:20 still to go.
 
The Owls outscored Lipscomb 19-5 over a four-minute span to head into the final minute of play trailing 81-73. That would be as close as they would get though as Lipscomb held off KSU at the free throw line to earn the win. Hooker and Lewis each scored 15 points in the second half. Lipscomb's three-point shooting was the deciding factor as the Bisons were 8-of-13 from beyond the arc in the second half with 13 made treys on the night.
 
Notes: Jamie Lewis nearly recorded a double-double with a career-high eight rebounds to go along with his 24 points, his second straight 20+ point game … Tyler Hooker's 24 points marked his third game this season with 20 or more points … Ugo Obineke also finished in double-figures with 10 points to go with a season-high six rebounds … Hooker and Lewis both played all 40 minutes of the game … the Owls recorded seven three-pointers on the night, their fourth straight game with five or more treys … KSU shot over 40 percent from the floor for the second straight game … Lipscomb out-rebounded KSU 40-25.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
On the Owls' fight…
"I'm really proud of our group. To be on the road with eight guys and battle the adversity we've battled, we had four guys with the flu this week and we are just trying to get healthy, and I'm really proud of the fight they showed. It got to a point there in the second half where we kind of wanted to revert to how we've been in the past and give in, but they continued to fight and continued to trust each other. So really proud of the effort they gave. Again, no moral victories, but I think we're at one of these stages where we have been before where we are right there ready to push through and we have to stay true, stay true to our practice habits, stay true to in a sense just each other and what we're trying to do. I think if we do that we'll turn the corner and start to win some games here in our league."
 
On Jamie Lewis and Tyler Hooker's play…
"It's what we've been hoping to get to all year. Even having those two out there with Terrell Burden, but obviously we know about his injury and it's unfortunate. That's just what we've been looking forward to getting to and hopefully getting a little bit healthier here in the next few weeks and getting a few guys back. Hopefully we can capitalize on having those two guys, who are really dynamic guards, on the court and figure out a way to get the ball in their hands more and help them become, not only better scorers, but better decision makers."
 
Up Next: The Owls have a week off before heading back out on the road to face FGCU next Thursday (Jan. 16) followed by NJIT Saturday (Jan. 18).