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MACON, Ga. – Kennesaw State ended the first half on an 18-0 run to take control and held off a late rally thanks to a pair of free throws in the final seconds to claim its first road win over Mercer since 2010 in a 66-63 victory on Friday night from Hawkins Arena. The Owls snapped a 10-game losing streak to their intra-state rival to improve to 5-3 on the year, while Mercer dropped to 4-5 overall.
THE TURNING POINT: Mercer held its largest lead of the half at eight, 27-19 with 5:03 to play. The Owls then showed their explosive offensive capability, with seven quick points over the next 90 seconds to close within one. A pair of free throws from
Quincy Ademokoya gave the Owls a 28-27 lead, and KSU continued the run, hitting four straight shots from the floor. A corner three from
Cole LaRue at the halftime buzzer, his second triple of the half, gave KSU a 37-27 advantage. Mercer was forced into four missed field goals and three turnovers during that scoring drought.
OWL OF THE GAME: Terrell Burden scored six of his 14 points in the final six minutes, including the game-clinching free throws with seven seconds left that extended the Owls' lead to three points. Burden finished the night a perfect 4-of-4 from the line and added three assists and two steals.
STAT OF THE GAME: KSU turned the ball over just nine times while forcing 16 turnovers and finished with a 13-4 edge on points off turnovers. That was partly fueled by nine steals in the game for the Owls.
THE FIRST HALF: The Bears held the early advantage for the majority of the first half but couldn't extend the lead past more than four points until midway through the stanza. A 7-0 spurt from the home team pushed their advantage to 27-19 with 5:03 on the clock thanks to a Shawn Walker Jr. layup. That was the final points of the half for Mercer though.
THE SECOND HALF: KSU led by double-digits for the majority of the half, taking its largest lead of the game at 52-37 on a layup from
Chris Youngblood. The Owls were still up 52-39 when Mercer reeled off a 14-3 run to close within 55-51 with 6:40 to play. KSU could not shake the Bears but hit enough baskets down the stretch to keep it a two-possession game for the majority of the final minutes. After KSU went 1-of-2 at the line with under 40 seconds to go, Mercer scored on back-to-back layups, sandwiched around a missed Owl front end of a one-and-one, to make the score 64-63 with eight seconds left. Burden was then fouled and sank both to seal the game.
QUOTEABLE: "This was a reward for their hard work. We've been playing well, the last two games we ran out of gas while VCU on their home court was always going to be a very tough matchup. What this did is reward how our guys got back to work and focusing on each other and what they needed to do. When Mercer closed within one at the end, we worked our butts off this summer and learned how to respond when it gets tough, and that's what we did tonight. They have been through adversity before, they have been on the other end, now they know how to win. That Mercer team is so well coached, they try to take away your strengths, it was like a chess match in the beginning. We were able to pick up our tempo at the end of the first half and pick up our defensive play and that helped us to our big run."-
Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES
-The last time KSU won a road game in Macon was on Jan. 27, 2010, a 71-69 victory. This win was the first against the Bears overall since an 83-75 home win on Jan. 15, 2013.
-KSU now has two road wins in non-conference play for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
-Three Owls finished in double-figures, paced by Youngblood's 16 points. Ademokoya added 10 points and five rebounds in his first career start as an Owl.
-KSU shot 42.1% for the game and 40% from three-point range, but more importantly was 80% (12-of-15) at the free throw line.
-The Owls were outrebounded 34-28, but still held a 10-6 edge on second chance points. KSU also outscored the Bears in bench scoring 12-7.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls will be back in action with their sixth straight game away from home, a Monday, 7 p.m. contest at Charleston Southern. The game will be available on ESPN+.
