Friday, January 06, 2006

Boiling Springs, N.C. - Kennesaw State joined the top of the standings following an impressive 74-68 victory at preseason favorite Gardner-Webb in the A-Sun Game of the Week on CSS Friday night.

Freshman Ryan Nelson chipped in a career-high 17 points to help give KSU an important victory.

In what was a fiercely competitive game for the first 38 minutes‚ Kennesaw State dominated down the stretch to snap a five−game losing streak and move into a tie for first−place in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

After building a ten−point lead at 61−51‚ the Owls withstood a brief but intense Gardner−Webb rally which brought to life the Bulldog crowd. Four straight points gave the Bulldogs life‚ but Golden Ingle stopped the rally with left−handed finger roll over Conn to push the lead to eight points.

The Owls did not allow Gardner−Webb within four points for the final 2:56 as Kennesaw State earned its first road win of the season.