Owls Fall in Quarterfinals of Atlantic Sun Tournament to USC Upstate

Release from Kennesaw State Athletics:

he Kennesaw State men’s basketball team fell to USC Upstate 90-54 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun Tournament.

“We struggled making shots tonight,” head coach Jimmy Lallathin said. “We just couldn’t find the bottom of the basket and that hurts. They were able to turn a couple of our misses into quick baskets and it was deflating. I thought we were taking good shots from guys that we want taking them, but we just couldn’t find the bottom of the net.”

Nigel Pruitt was the leading scorer in the game with 26 points, and he also led the team with six rebounds. He was 9 of 18 from the floor hitting three treys and made all five of his free throw attempts.

“Nigel made the first shot and then missed the next five or six, but he kept fighting and found different ways to score,” Lallathin said. “He’s definitely a young man that we’re very excited about, and we’re very excited moving forward with him as a senior next year.”

KSU had a tough night from the floor shooting 27.1 percent from the game.

The Spartans took a 42-17 lead into the locker room behind their stifling defense in the first half.

In the second half, the Owls continued to play hard behind Pruitt. With 12:42 remaining, he hit a three pointer that sparked a 10-0 run for Kennesaw State.

This loss concludes the 2014-15 season that saw the Owls get 10 wins for the first time since the 2009-10 season, three Owls claim weekly awards and senior Delbert Love be honored for the second straight season on the A-Sun All-Academic Team.