For the second time in just five days, the basketball team defeated the New Jersey Institute of Technology in a come-from-behind victory on Jan. 30.
Senior guard Kendrick Ray, who leads the ASUN in scoring, broke free for a layup with six seconds to seal the win for the Owls.
Despite entering halftime down 28-23, KSU came back after Ray gave a spark to the Owls offense with a monster fast-break dunk that ended a nearly five-minute scoring drought for both teams.
Later in the period, the Owls found themselves down 46-40 with 5:26 left to play. Then KSU tied the game up with a pair of 3-pointers by Ray and junior guard Nick Masterson.
Kennesaw got another two-point bucket by Ray and two free throws by sophomore forward Kosta Jankovic that capped off a 10-0 run to put KSU ahead.
With under 30 seconds left in the game, NJIT drew a foul that gave them a chance to tie the game at 52 apiece, but the team missed the second free throw.
NJIT’s Shyquan Gibb took the first shot of the final seconds in the game, scoring on a two-point jump shot to give his team the lead at 53-52.
That left just enough time on the clock for Ray to take the heroic shot of the night, cutting down the lane to finish with a layup, the knockout blow to the Highlanders.
Ray led all scorers with 22 points on 10-15 shooting and was 2-5 on threes. He also had three assists and four rebounds. Masterson had 15 points on 6-10 shooting and was 3-6 on 3-point shots to keep his season 3-point field goal percentage above 50 percent.
The Owls will return to the Convocation Center on Saturday to host University South Carolina Upstate.
