Kennesaw State went head to head against Liberty University, resulting in a 65-50 loss for the Owls on Jan. 31 for Youth Night.
The Owls suited up that Monday evening in hopes of bringing home a victory against the Flames.
“You never want to take away a thing from the other team—I have the utmost respect for Coach McKay and the job that they do,” head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim said. “But at the end of the day, it’s our eighth game in 17 days.”
Terrell Burden put the Owls on the board first with a jumper in the paint, followed by Isaiah Reddish’s two to extend the early lead to four. Sophomore guard Chris Youngblood followed that up, as well, with two baskets to push the lead to eight.
Spencer Rogers brought Kennesaw’s score up to 10 before Kasen Jennings started heating up against the Flames, sinking the team’s first three-pointer of the contest. Burden’s swiftness helped bring the Owls’ score to 19 points heading into the half.
Coming back from the break, Rodgers scored a huge three-pointer, and Jennings once more sank a basket, pushing the Owls to 39 points on the night. Cole LaRue entered the game and immediately scored, bringing the team’s total score to 46 with just two minutes remaining, but to no avail as the Flames sealed the 15-point victory just moments later.
“Just like on Saturday, we didn’t have any pop tonight. Saturday, we didn’t try, tonight I thought we tried, we tried to push through,” Abdur-Rahim said. “But to be sitting here at 4-4 in the league, we still have a lot of basketball to play, a lot of play for. Not only for this season but as a program as we keep building.”
KSU’s next contest will be held on Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. when they host the Central Arkansas Bears.
