The Owls won in a thrilling 88-81 victory as they took on the Liberty Flames on Feb. 16 at the Convocation Center.
As Kennesaw State men’s basketball continues to make school history, this win led them to strengthen the now 14-game win streak, which ties the sixth-longest streak in the nation.
This is KSU men’s basketball’s first-ever win against the Liberty Flames in 10 meetings. After a hot start defensively early in the first half, the Owls saw themselves tied 12-12 with the Flames.
The Owls faced multiple deficits during the second half, with the largest being 14 points. The intensity continued to build in the Convocation Center as time began to run out and the Owls were down 73-67 after Chris Youngblood‘s three-pointer with five minutes left in the game, causing the Flames to call a timeout.
Instead of laying down, the Owls came out of the timeout with a huge block by Demond Robinson. Robinson swatted the ball out of bounds vigorously. As the crowd rose to their feet, Youngblood would hit another three on the other end starting the crucial 14-2 run. As Youngblood opened his bag, he scored nine of the Owls’ 14 points in the game-changing run including getting one out of two from the free throw line with 2:44 left, tying the game up 75-75.
The Owls’ continued strong defense led to Spencer Rodgers‘ steal off of Liberty Flames’ Colin Porter. This led to Youngblood getting another three from beyond the arc on the other end pushing the Owls up 78-75 with just less than two minutes left in the game.
KSU’s first advantage since 12-10 in the first half, led to the Flames’ Darius McGhee three-pointer and a tied game at 78-78. After an Owls timeout, Terrell Burden went to the rack for an and-one to push the Owls up 81-78 with 1:24 left in the game.
Burden would go on to score again to push the Owls up 83-78 with 35.8 seconds left after a missed layup by McGhee. The Flames forced a foul against Brandon Stroud sending him to the free-throw line to stop the clock. Stroud went 1-2 from the free throw line and the Owls went up 84-78.
The Flames brought the ball back down the court for a missed three by Porter. After collecting a rebound, Burden dribbled the clock out until getting fouled with 14.6 seconds left. Burden made both free throws, continuing KSU’s late push for the win. The Flames refused to give up as Liberty’s Kyle Rode made a three-pointer leading to an Owls timeout (86-81). Robinson was fouled coming out of the timeout on the inbound. Robinson made both free throws with 7.2 seconds left on the clock (88-81).
KSU will continue on the road to Florence, AL to play North Alabama on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.
