Chris Raimondi—Sports Editor
Yonel Brown put in a career-high 32 points to lift Kennesaw State over Tennessee Chattanooga, 77-69, for the team’s third straight win.
KSU (3-4) only shot 39 percent from the field, but was able to attack the paint and sink 34-44 free-throws for the game to edge the Mocs (3-4).
“I was going to do whatever it took for us to win,” Brown said. “If it happened to be me scoring, then I was going to score.”
Both teams started slow in the first half as neither side was able to score more than 30 points through the first 20 minutes. The game was tied 6-6 eight minutes into the contest until a pair of Brown free-throws and a Nick Masterson 3-pointer gave KSU a five point lead at the 13:18 mark. KSU held a lead as large as 12 in the first half, but UTC climbed their way back before halftime.
Justin Tuoyo and Casey jones combined for 15 points in the final seven minutes of the half to help spark a UTC comeback. The Mocs took the lead after a Jones jumper in the paint, but the half ended 26-26 after Delbert Love was able to get to the line and sink a pair of free-throws.
A different KSU team came out of the locker room for the second half. After attempting 12 free throws in the first half, the Owls shot 34 free throws, 15 attempted by Brown and 12 by Willy Kouassi.
The turning point for KSU came early in the second half once the Owls had jumped out to a four point lead. Forward Nigel Pruitt took an elbow to the face while tightly guarding UTC’s Eric Robertson in a full court press. The action was ruled a flagrant foul-one and Brown converted both free-throws to extend the Owl’s lead to 33-27. Pruitt later returned to the game.
KSU quickly jumped out to a 10 point lead, but UTC were able to hang around and made it a two possession game when Ronrico White made the score 43-39 with a 3-pointer at the 12:16 mark. Then Brown took over.
After a steal in the open court and a fast break layup by Brown made it 45-39, Masterson added another 3-pointer to make it a nine point Owls lead. Brown went on to score 27 points in the second half off of 13-15 shooting from the free-throw line. Junior center Kouassi held Tuoyo in check, keeping his 6-foot-10-inch counterpart scoreless in the final 20 minutes. Kouassi finished with seven points, nine rebounds and a block.
KSU’s leading scorers Orlando Coleman and Pruitt were limited to five and eight minutes on the court in the second half, respectively, but the Owls’ still managed to go on a run and close the deal. “It’s not about players individually scoring,” KSU head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. “It’s about the team that is on the floor. That’s a mature team that showed themselves in the second half.”
The game ended 77-69 and KSU grabbed their third-straight win of the season, a streak that the program has not seen since the 2010-11 season. “It’s our first win streak in a while,” Lallathin said. “It feels good to win. We’re taking steps even after losses, but we need to continue to take steps after wins as well.”
Next up, the Owls will head to Miami, Florida to take on Florida International (4-3) Tuesday Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be available on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app. KSU’s next home game will be Saturday Dec. 6 at 12 p.m. against Kent State.
