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BOONE, N.C. – Kennesaw State held a three-point halftime advantage but went cold from the floor in the second half as a five-minute field goal drought led to a 17-4 Campbell run and the Camels would finish the game with an 85-61 victory over the Owls. Despite the loss, the Owls (4-2 overall) finished the weekend with a 2-1 record in the Appalachian State MTE, tying with Campbell (3-2) for the best overall record of the four teams.
STAT OF THE GAME: Campbell's bench outscored the Owls 56-12. That was mostly thanks to Juan Reyna, who came in and hit a new career-high 27 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range.
THE FIRST HALF: The Owls started out strong, scoring 14 of the game's first 16 points over the first seven minutes of the game. Four trouble started to pick up for KSU though, as at one point the Owls had as many fouls called against them (eight) as they had points allowed. With several starters sending significant minutes on the bench, Campbell climbed back into the game, with a 16-4 spurt to tie the game at 18-18. It was tied again at 31-31, until
Terrell Burden drained a three-pointer from the top of the key at the halftime buzzer for a 34-31 KSU advantage.
THE SECOND HALF: Chris Youngblood scored on a drive to the basket for a 43-40 KSU edge with 14:56 on the clock. That would be the last basket for the Owls for the next five minutes though, and Campbell scored seven straight to go up 47-43 and they wouldn't trail again. The Owls were still within distance down 12, 66-54 with 6:24 on the clock when the Camels scored eight unanswered to go up 74-54.
QUOTEABLE: "Three games in game in three days, that was our job, that's what we came here to do. We needed to be better in some areas, especially in being focused on each other and not the other team. Campbell played a good game, we just need to figure out ways to get better from it and grow from it. We had the pace we wanted at the start, and then the game kept stopping and that messed up our flow, but we weren't focused on what we needed to do. When we're locked in we're a good team, when we aren't focused on what we need to we're not in the rhythm we need to be to keep a lead. But we're going to keep working on who we are, keep working on getting better, our next opponent VCU is going to be a tough game especially on their home floor."-
Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES
- KSU dropped to 8-4 all-time against Campbell.
- This marked the first time KSU has played three games on three consecutive days since the opening week of the 2013-14 season.
- KSU was held under 70 points for the first time this season.
- Youngblood led KSU with 17 points, while Burden added 15.
- The rest of KSU's starting lineup was held to just 17 points.
- As a team, the Owls shot 47.5% from the floor, 8-of-22 for 36.4% from three-point range and 15-of-24 at the line (62.5%).
- Three Owls finished in double-figures. Stroud posted a double-double for the second-straight night with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Robinson added 10 points.
- KSU held a 30-18 edge on points in the paint, and 14-5 on fast break points.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls play a fourth-straight game away from home with a Saturday, Nov. 26 contest at VCU in Richmond, Va., with a 4 p.m. start.
