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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kennesaw State knocked down 15 three-pointers, including the game-clincher with 29 seconds left as the Owls held off a late rally to claim a big 75-70 road upset victory over Bellarmine in ASUN Conference men's basketball action Saturday night from Freedom Hall.
KSU reached double-digits in season wins for the first time since 2017-18, improving to 10-13, while the Owls are now 5-5 in league play to move into a tie for third place in the East division. The five ASUN wins matches the total conference victories from the previous three seasons combined for KSU. Bellarmine dropped to 13-11, 7-3 in the ASUN with just its third home loss of the season.
Two days after playing a triple-overtime game at Eastern Kentucky, the Owls again found themselves in a tight battle, though this time KSU was playing from ahead the majority of the time. In fact, the visiting Owls held the lead for 36:25 of the contest and were ahead 62-46 after the second of back-to-back treys with 11:25 to play in the game. Bellarmine then went on a 24-9 run over the next ten minutes of the game. The Knights hit 8-of-12 during that stretch, including 3-of-3 from three-point range, and closed to within one, 71-70 with exactly one-minute left thanks to a Dylan Penn layup.
The Owls ran the shot clock all the way down on the other end before finding
Chris Youngblood in the deep corner. Right in front of the KSU bench he buried a three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer for a 74-70 Owl lead. The Knights missed two free throws and a three-pointer on the other end, while KSU added a free throw to seal the game.
OWL OF THE GAME: Spencer Rodgers broke out of a scoring slump with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting. That included a 4-of-8 night from three-point range, several of which were key shots to stop Bellarmine runs, while he also added four rebounds in the victory.
STAT OF THE GAME: The Owls' 15 three-point field goals were the third-highest single-game total in KSU history, as well as a season-high. In addition to Rodgers' four, Youngblood finished the game with five, giving him 11 total over the past two games. All five starters made at least one three-pointer in the victory, including the first-ever multi 3-point field goal game from
Terrell Burden. The 15 treys came off 30 total attempts for a 50% performance. Bellarmine meanwhile finished 6-of-14 (42.9%).
FIRST HALF: KSU opened the game on a 6-0 run to put pressure early on the Knights. Though Bellarmine would come back to tie the game, the Owls answered every response. The Knights only led twice in the game, the first at 15-14 thanks to a 7-0 run.
Demond Robinson countered with consecutive baskets to put KSU back ahead. Rodgers kept off another rally with a pair of threes just 30 seconds part, giving the Owls a 38-34 advantage with 1:42 to play. Bellarmine though would score the final five points of the half to take a 39-38 edge into the break.
SECOND HALF: The Knights lead was very short-lived. Youngblood opened halftime with a three-pointer to put KSU up 41-39, and the Owls never trailed again. Holding a 48-45 edge, three-pointers from Burden,
Kasen Jennings and a pair from Youngblood gave the Owls their largest advantage of the game at 64-46.
QUOTEABLE:
"So proud of the guys tonight. I told them after the EKU game that we would find out a lot about ourselves over the next 48 hours. Will the storyline be we played hard but ran out of gas or we fought through adversity together and pulled out a gritty win. They chose the latter. I'm so proud of this group." -
Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
NOTES
-The last time KSU reached 10 wins in a season was when the 2017-18 squad finished 10-20. The Owls' five league wins are also the most since that '17-18 squad went 6-8 in ASUN action.
-KSU claimed a third ASUN road victory, the most for the Owls since going 3-4 on the road in 2016-17 in conference play.
-This was the Owls' first-ever win over the Knights, after dropping the initial two meetings in the series a year ago in Kennesaw.
-KSU's 15 three-pointers are the most in a game since hitting a school record 18 against Toccoa Falls on Nov. 28, 2020. The Owls also made 16 against Western Illinois on Nov. 14, 2008.
-Youngblood led all KSU scorers with 17. Robinson nearly missed his first career double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Burden finished with 10 and seven assists.
-The Owls shot 45.8% (27-of-59) from the floor. Bellarmine was 25-of-51 for 49% but made just 40% (10-of-25) of its attempts in the second half.
-KSU held a 35-29 edge on the boards and forced 11 turnovers by Bellarmine.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Owls return home for a two-game homestand, starting with a doubleheader on Wednesday, Feb. 9 against Central Arkansas. The men will tip-off at 7:30 p.m., following the KSU women's contest against UCA at 5 p.m.
