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KENNESAW, Ga. – Belmont shot over 50% in each half and hit 10 three-pointers to hand Kennesaw State its first home loss of the season Friday night, 97-78 in the Convocation Center in college men's basketball action. The loss dropped KSU to 2-3 on the season, while Belmont improved to 3-1 overall.
Belmont's biggest advantage Friday came inside, as the Bruins finished with a 54-32 advantage on points in the paint. The Owls played Belmont fairly even in the rest of the game, but couldn't match the visitors' scoring output close to the basket.
The 78 points did mark the third-most ever scored by KSU in its 19-game series against Belmont, and the most scored by the Owls in a loss. Leading the way offensively for KSU on Friday was junior Terrell Burden with 19 points and a team-high four assists. Also in double-figures was Kasen Jennings, just one off his career-high with 16 points off the bench, Chris Youngblood with 14 points and Spencer Rodgers with 11.
KSU finished the night shooting 45.8% (27-of-59) from the floor, 33.3% (7-of-21) from three-point range and an impressive 89.9% (17-of-19) at the free throw line. The Owls only came up with two steals but did post a season-high six blocks, with two each from Demond Robinson and Youngblood.
Belmont meanwhile shot 52.8% for the night (38-of-72), was 10-of-25 for 40% from three-point land and made 11-of-12 at the charity stripe for 91.7%. The Bruins were paced by Nick Musynski who converted 10-of-18 from the floor on the way to a game-high 25 points.
After falling behind 9-2, the Owls came back with six of the next eight points to show they were going to make it a fight. Though they never took the lead, the Owls would close to within one, 23-22, on a Nate Springs jumper at the 9:52 mark. Belmont then used an 8-0 run, which included a three-point play and a three-pointer, to go up 31-22 with 8:41 to play in the half, and KSU came no closer the rest of the game.
QUOTEABLE: "A little bit disappointed tonight, I thought things that we normally hang out hat on on the defensive end, we were a step slow tonight. Hats off to Belmont, they do a great job with their program, they are battle-tested, and them doing the things they do, kind of made us a half step slow tonight as well. We have to get better from this. It's a long season, there are some positives we can take from this but we have to get back to defending and rebounding the ball." – Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NEXT TIME OUT: KSU is back on the road for a Tuesday, November 23 contest at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., with an 8 pm start time on the ACC Network.
