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Score: Kennesaw State 64, North Alabama 66
Records: Kennesaw State (3-11, 0-6), North Alabama (6-3, 3-1)
Key Players: Alex Peterson (11 pts, 6 rebs, 2 blks), Chris Youngblood (10 pts, 4 rebs), Cole Larue (10 pts, 2 rebs) and Kasen Jennings (8 pts, 3 assts)
 
THE STORYLINE 
The Kennesaw State men's basketball team flipped the script in game two pushing North Alabama to the limit in a down to the wire affair before ultimately falling in the final seconds 66-64.
 
ABDUR-RAHIM QUOTES
On the final play of the game…
"It's probably on me, if I could do it all over again, and this is not in hindsight, I would've just let them play out the eight seconds and go. But I was thinking having a freshman point guard on the court, I wanted to give him something clean to look at, give those guys some confidence in knowing what we were running … If we take anything from it, we have to be tougher and not depend on anybody to give us anything in this league."
 
On Cole Larue's play…
"Cole is a kid, he comes to practice and he competes every day, he works hard and he does exactly what you ask him to do. Like any freshmen it takes them time, especially big kids. I worked with a guy before and he said with big kids it's not about who they are, it's about who they can become. When we recruited Cole, we loved his skill set, we loved how big he was, we loved how physical he was and I think he's starting to figure out where he belongs and what he can do on the court. We need him to build off that. With his ability to shoot the ball and finish around the basket, it's only a plus for us."
 
On driving the lane and not settling for threes…
"To be honest that was our game plan last night, but with young kids sometimes you can get real trigger happy from the three. With the way North Alabama plays, they're physical defensively so what we were trying to do is what we did tonight by getting into the bonus and getting to the free throw line. We just did a better job of being more physical on our drives and playing downhill."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a hard-fought back-and-forth game in the opening minutes with the Owls and Lions knotted at 7-7 with 12:53 to play in the first half. Terrell Burden put the Owls on top with a three-pointer, sparking a 14-1 run for KSU over the following eight minutes as a trey from Chris Youngblood gave KSU a 21-8 lead.
 
The two teams traded buckets over the final four minutes as KSU attempted to hold on to their double-digit lead, but a quick 5-0 run by the Lions cut the lead in half with the Owls leading 25-20 at halftime.
Youngblood recorded eight of his 10 points in the first half along with Alex Peterson who netted seven of his 11 points in the period. KSU held UNA to 21.4 percent shooting in the first half.
 
The second half started off much like Friday's game as the Lions came out firing to regain the lead 30-27 behind a 10-2 run. The Owls kept it close thanks to the charity stripe, going 7-of-8 from the stripe over the next few minutes to keep the game even at 34-34 with 12:49 to go.

The Lions answered with a 10-0 run to pull in front, but the Owls would not go away as Peterson netted four straight points out of a KSU timeout. A three-pointer form Brandon Stroud and a free throw from Rodgers had KSU knocking on the door, trailing 46-42 at the 8:44 mark.
 
After trading buckets, Cole LaRue sparked life into the Owls with a 5-0 run of his own to pull KSU within one, 52-51. The Owls finally pulled ahead thanks to a trey from Stroud highlighting a 9-0 run to give KSU a 60-54 lead with 3:06 left in the game. UNA took the momentum right back though with back-to-back three-pointers to put the teams back on level terms 60-60.

With the two teams tied at 62-62 with a minute left, UNA jumped in front with a bucket and a free throw. KSU responded on the other end with two free throws of its own to trail by one with 14 seconds left. UNA sank one more free throw in the final seconds as KSU attempted to win the game on the final play, but the Lions got the jump on the inbounds play getting the Owls out of system, forcing up a prayer that fell short.

NOTES
- Cole LaRue recorded a career-high 11 points, recording nine points in the second half alone.
- Alex Peterson led the team with 11 points and six boards, logging a season-high two blocks.
- Spencer Rodgers had his 13 game double-digit scoring streak snapped recording eight points.
- KSU out-rebounded UNA 38-29.
- The Owls held UNA to 33.3 percent shooting, the second lowest shooting percentage by an opponent this season.
- The Owls had a season-high 22 turnovers.
 
UP NEXT
The Owls are scheduled to host Bellarmine Friday (Jan. 29) at 6 p.m. EST.

To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State men's basketball news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsMBB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.