The Owls returned home after a trip out west and delivered coach Antoine Pettway a birthday win, downing Bryan College 94-59 at the Convocation Center on Wednesday night.
“I thought it was a good bounce back win after we came back from California,” Pettway said. “I thought our guys came out with the right attitude, I was most concerned with us playing the right way.”
Fresh off being named the Conference USA freshman of the week, Owls’ guard Adrian Wooley filled up the stat sheet for the Owls with 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
“I feel like (my early success) is because we do the same thing everyday,” Wooley said. “So I feel like if we do something consistently, it’s going to become a habit. So, doing that every day at practice, it just prepared me this time.”
The Owls tallied a program-record 66 rebounds in the game, despite not one individual accounting for more than nine.
For the second time in his career, Braeden Lue led the Owls in scoring with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Simeon Cottle, Jamil Miller and Frankquon Sherman each finished in double-figures as well.
For Sherman, it was a season-high and 100% shooting night, finishing 4-of-4 from the floor.
“He’s developing nicely,” Pettway said. “He’s a guy that needed minutes last year. He started half the season last year and had road games where he had 21 points. So him having a role, a good role on our team as a freshman has allowed him to come in more comfortable this year.”
Kennesaw State started hot, opening the game on a 26-8 run before cooling off around the nine-minute mark in the first half. After 20 minutes, the Owls took a 51-29 lead into the the halftime break.
The second half mirrored the first.
KSU got started the period on a 14-5 run, extending its lead to 65-34 and eventually as large as 76-39.
Bryan stabilized as the Owls checked in the end of their bench, including Charles Stone, Eric Holland, Chase Clemmons and Dozie Onyirimba.
Clemmons and Onyirimba each notched their first collegiate points in the final minutes as the Owls cruised to a 94-59 victory.
For Bryan, Trey Morrow led the team’s scorers with 12 points on 50% shooting from three. Regale Moore was the only other Lion in double-figures with 10 points.
With the victory, KSU improves to 2-1 on the season and will face Presbyterian next at the Convocation Center on Saturday at 11 a.m.
