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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State's final tune-up before the start of conference play could not have gone any better, as the Owls reached the 100+ point mark for the second time this season and set new school records for best field goal percentage and most assists in a game as the Owls routed Toccoa Falls 108-51 Thursday night from the Convocation Center.
 
KSU finished the night shooting 37-of-59 from the floor for 62.7%. That set a new Owl mark, topping the previous high of 62.3% (48-of-77), set earlier this season against Carver Bible on Nov. 15. Just as impressive Thursday was the flow of the offense, with KSU posting 30 assists for the game. That is a new Owl record as well, topping the 28 assists against Toccoa Falls on Nov. 28, 2020.
 
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls were just two points shy of having a season-high six players finish in double-figures and saw two players hit 20+ in the same game for the first time this season. Leading the way was Jamir Moultrie with a career-high 23 points thanks to an 8-9 performance off the bench, including 4-of-4 from three-point range.
 
OWL OF THE GAME: Senior Spencer Rodgers had a stellar night in all aspects of the game, collecting his second double-double of the season thanks to 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. He also added a career-high seven rebounds while finishing with no turnovers.
 
FIRST HALF: The Screaming Eagles actually held a one-point lead five minutes into the game at 10-9. KSU then hit three straight threes over the next three minutes to open up a 19-11 advantage. Back-to-back threes from the visitors made it a two-point game at 19-17 with 11:28 to play in the half. The Owls then took control of the game, finishing the half on a 24-7 run for a 43-24 halftime advantage. Brandon Stroud was one of the stars of the first half for KSU, with seven points and seven assists, while Chris Youngblood led all scorers with 11.
 
SECOND HALF: KSU 's defense was on display to start the second, as the Owls allowed just 12 points over the first eight minutes, on the way to pushing the margin to 73-36. The lead grew to as high as 60 before Toccoa ended the scoring with a three-pointer to account for the final 57-point margin.
 
QUOTEABLE: "Really pleased with our performance tonight. Anytime you have a game coming out of Christmas, you're always going to have hiccups. Just need to get the rust off, and I thought we did a good job tonight of doing that, we played good on the defensive end and on the offensive boards as well."
 
On taking the momentum of this win into the start of ASUN play
"It's important to start conference play getting back into the identity of how we want to play. We had some inconsistencies going into Christmas break. We probably could have gotten the game at Samford, didn't play up to our standard at Nebraska. Our practices coming out of Christmas were focused on recentering ourselves as a team and getting back to who we are."
 
On playing with a different lineup tonight
"We've been talking all year, literally since June, it's not what happens, it's how we respond. The lineups were different, we didn't have some guys tonight, I thought the ones we did have did a great job of adjusting to whatever lineups we did run. They focused on defense more than offense tonight, whenever you do that, it's not going to be about the lineup, as much about who you are from a culture standpoint."
 
On Spencer Rodgers' play
"I thought Spencer did a great job of just letting the game come to him tonight. At like the 10-minute mark of the second half, he may have only had nine points, but to also finish with 10 rebounds and seven assists, was really proud of how he rebounded the ball and shared the ball tonight."
 
On the start of ASUN play and hosting Jacksonville
"Jacksonville has done a great job in the non-conference under their first-year head coach Jordan Mincy. They rebound the ball, they are big, defensively they are really good, they are rated very high in the country. It's going to be a fight, we're going to be ready for it. It's going to be in our building, and we need the students, we need to pack this place and make it a great environment.
 – Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim      
 
NOTES
-The Owls set a number of all-time Top-10 marks in the win including:
Total Points In A Game – 2^nd all-time (108)
Most Steals In A Game – 2^nd all-time (15)
Most Three-Point FGs In A Game – 3^rd all-time (15)
Most Field Goals In A Game – Tied for 5^th all-time (37)
3-Point FG Percentage – 7^th all-time (53.6% - 15-of-28)
 
-This was the first time two players reached 20+ points in the same game since Dec 12, 2020 vs Dalton State as Youngblood finished the night with 22 points, to join Moultrie with 23.
-Also scoring in double-figures was Kasen Jennings with 13 in his first start of the year, and Demond Robinson with 12 points in just 11 minutes of action.
-KSU finished with a 43-30 edge on the boards, and forced 21 turnovers from the Eagles.
 
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls begin ASUN play on Wednesday, Jan. 5, as the first game of a doubleheader with the KSU women as both teams host the Jacksonville Dolphins in the Convocation Center. The men's contest will start at 5 pm, followed by the women's game at 7:30 pm. It's Youth Sports Day for both games, and all kids that wear their youth team's jersey or uniform will receive free admission to the game.