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CHARLESTON, S.C. – A great defensive performance by Kennesaw State in the first half led to a 13-point halftime lead and the Owls held a double-digit advantage the rest of the way in Monday night's 76-65 over Charleston Southern in men's collegiate basketball action from the Buccaneer Field House. KSU moved to 6-3 overall with the victory, the team's best-ever nine-game record in Division I play, while the Owls have now won three road contests in non-conference play for the first-time as a DI program.
STAT OF THE GAME: KSU forced 22 turnovers for the game, including 16 in the first half. The Owls would turn that into 21 points and held a commanding 21-10 advantage on points off turnovers.
OWL OF THE GAME: Demond Robinson was a problem for the Buccaneers all night long, starting with his 10-point night, all in the paint and several off dunks or alley-oops. But even more impactful was his play on the defensive side, as he set new career-highs in blocks with a game-high three and steals with a game-high five, to go along with a team-high six rebounds.
THE FIRST HALF: Charleston Southern held an early 5-4 edge when
Quincy Ademokoya quickly made an impact off the bench, draining three shots from behind the arc. That fueled a 12-4 run for a 16-8 Owl lead less then midway through the half. KSU extended the edge to 10 at 22-12, before the Buccaneers made a run. CSU would score on its next four trips down the court, shaving six points off the margin to make it a 24-20 contest with 8:44 to play.
Chris Youngblood then took over, scoring the next eight points of the game, while
Alex Peterson added a layup for a 34-20 Owl advantage with 4:39 to play. KSU went into the break leading 42-29.
THE SECOND HALF: Robinson scored the first four points of the half to lead the Owls, while a three-pointer from
Brandon Stroud gave KSU its largest lead of the game at 55-36. However, missed free throws by KSU allowed the home team to climb back in the game, eventually closing within 11 at 64-53 with 5:11 to play. The Owls never let the lead drop into single digits however, answering every CSU run with a basket, and then sealed the game on a
Kasen Jennings trey for a 74-57 lead with under a minute to play.
QUOTEABLE: "I'm always going to be proud of these guys. When things didn't go the way we wanted to at times, our response was good, our connection was good and I thought we did a really good job of coming in and playing our brand of basketball tonight. We got out to a great start, at halftime we had forced about 16 turnovers, our activity, our communication, we were getting deflections and steals for easy baskets. But the overall game tonight is also part of us growing, the big picture of becoming a complete team, and to come out with an 11-point win on the road says a lot about our growth as a team and a program."-
Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES
-For the first time in school history, the Owls have six wins by December 5. The previous record for the earliest date for the sixth win was December 6, during KSU's final season as a Division II program in 2004-05.
-Youngblood paced the Owls in scoring with 16 points. Robinson was next with 10 while Ademokoya added nine along with nine from
Terrell Burden.
-KSU shot 47.1% from the floor for the night, was 11-of-23 for 47.8% from three-point land, and 17-of-29 at the charity stripe for 56.8%, though just 7-of-17 in the second half.
-Despite losing the rebound battle 39-28, KSU still outscored the Bucs in second chance points 6-5. Another big advantage to go the Owls' way was bench scoring, by a 26-12 margin.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls are off for exam week, before returning to action with a trip to the West Coast to face Top-25 San Diego State on Monday, Dec. 12 at 10 p.m. (ET). The game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network.
