KSU vs Georgia College Box Score (PDF)

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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State raced out to a 15-0 start five minutes into the contest and never looked back, as the Owls cruised to a 79-55 victory over Georgia College in their first home game in over a month on Saturday afternoon in men's college basketball action from the Convocation Center. The Owls improved to 7-4 and have clinched a winning season in non-conference play for the first time in the school's Division I history.
 
STAT OF THE GAME: Kennesaw State held a 26-10 edge on points off turnovers, thanks to forcing 18 while only committing eight for the afternoon.
 
OWL OF THE GAME: Chris Youngblood posted another strong offensive day, just missing a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. He was 5-of-8 from the floor, 3-of-5 from three-point range, and a perfect 5-of-5 at the free throw line.
 
THE FIRST HALF: After Kasen Jennings started off things with a trey, Youngblood took over, scoring on a three-point play, an alley-oop and then a trey to put the Owls up 15-0 at the 14:36 mark. GC was held without a basket for the first seven minutes, missing its first eight shots before getting on the board with a layup at 12:43. That sparked a run for the Bobcats, as they scored nine unanswered to close within 15-9. After KSU pushed the lead back to 13, GC again made a run and closed within 28-23 with 2:12 in the half. It was 31-26 with a minute to go, when the Owls came up with two turnovers to fuel a 6-0 run to close out the half for a 37-26 halftime advantage.
 
THE SECOND HALF: The Owls held a 46-31 lead four minutes into the half when they reeled off 14 of the next 16 points of the game. Demond Robinson and Simeon Cottle combined for 11 of the 14 points, with the freshman Cottle's trey at 12:45 making it a 60-33 contest. KSU led by at least 20 the rest of the way.
  
QUOTEABLE: "Being at home for the first time in a month, it was a little weird out there, we haven't been in there so long, but we were really appreciative of the crowd support. I was really pleased with our intensity and effort on the defensive end tonight, to hold a team to 55 points or less is always a good thing and we came out connected on that side of the court. We got out to a fast start, and every game we're focused on getting better. So to have that fast start and then have Georgia College cut into it was a good thing, now we can start talking about what good teams do when they get those kind of leads. I thought our response in the second half in sharing the ball and keeping that energy going." Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim      
 
NOTES
-The Owls played their first home game since Nov. 14, a stretch of 32 days.
-The last time KSU had seven wins in the month of January was in 2004-05, during the school's last year as a Division II program.
-The Owls are a perfect 3-0 at home this season, and increased their home win streak to five games.
-Jennings joined Youngblood in double-figure scoring with 10 points in his second straight start. Terrell Burden was next with nine points, while two more Owls had eight each.
-As a team, KSU shot 39.1% from the floor, 25.7% from three-point range and 69% at the free throw line.
-The Owls held a 20-7 edge on fast break points, helped by their 12 steals for the contest.

NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls finish the two-game homestand on Tuesday night with a 7 pm contest against USC Upstate in the Convocation Center. Read Full Article