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Score: Kennesaw State 72, Dalton State, 62
Records: Kennesaw State (3-2, 0-0), Dalton State (0-2, 0-0)
Key Players: Spencer Rodgers (21 pts, 7 rebs),
Chris Youngblood (24 pts, 4 assts, 3 stls),
Brandon Stroud (6 pts, 6 rebs),
Armani Harris ( 6 pts, 4 rebs, 3-3 FGM).
THE STORYLINE:
The Kennesaw State men's basketball team extended their record to 3-0 at home Saturday afternoon taking down an upstart Dalton State 72-62. Freshman
Chris Youngblood led the way with a career-high 24 points, adding four assists and three steals, as two Owls finished the night in double-figures.
ABDUR-RAHIM QUOTES
On takeaways from the game…
"I have to do a better job of getting my team prepared for practice. I thought this was the first time all year where we had practices that were up-and-down and it showed today … It shows in a game like this so I have to do a better job of preparing a younger group to come back off a road trip like we had last week and get ready to get better and to grow. Hats off to Dalton State and Coach Ireland, he did a great job of having his guys prepared, especially on such short notice. Hats off to them, but more importantly we have to do a better job of getting prepared."
On the team's play…
"I thought we had times when we were connected and times when we weren't and again it shows. You can tell where we are form a connection standpoint based on our turnovers and on our defensive field goal percentage. To have 16 turnovers tonight and give up 16 points off of those turnovers, we had way too many possessions when we weren't connected. They shot 38.5 percent from the field and for us that's not good enough … We have to do a better job of sustaining our energy when we bring guys into the game. I thought at times we were pretty connected and then I thought once we felt like we had a large enough lead that connection went away and boom they are right back into the game. And against really good teams like we are going to play on Wednesday at Belmont, they'll bury you so we have to get better."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Spencer Rodgers put the Owls on top early, draining a three-pointer less than 30 seconds in to spark a 7-0 run to open the game. Another 9-0 run pushed KSU's lead to double-figures, 16-3 with 12:30 left in the half. The two teams traded buckets until Dalton State ripped off a 14-2 run to even the game at 26 at the 3:09 mark. The Owls pulled back in front thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from
Chris Youngblood and Rodgers to help KSU maintain a slim 34-32 lead at halftime despite four points from DSC in the final minute.
Both Youngblood and Rodgers finished the first half in double-figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The Owls came out fired up in the second half, going on a 10-3 run in the opening minutes to stretch their lead to 44-35. Both squads battled with Dalton State cutting the lead down to five until two straight treys from Rodgers and Youngblood sparked a quick 10-0 run to make it 56-44 at the 12-minute mark. KSU held the Roadrunners at bay the rest of the way, answering DSC shot-for-shot to maintain a double-digit lead. The Owls shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the second period while holding Dalton State to 37 percent to earn the final score of 72-62.
NOTES
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Chris Youngblood's 24 points marked the first game with 20 or more points for the freshman.
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Spencer Rodgers matched his career-high with seven rebounds while tying his season-high with 21 points.
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Brandon Stroud collected a career-high six rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Owls head to Nashville, Tenn., to take on Belmont Wednesday (Dec. 16) at 7:30 p.m. ET.
