KENNESAW, Ga. _ The Kennesaw State Owls blew past the University of Central Bears to open the second half and cruised to a 82-66 victory at the KSU Convocation Center in the ASUN Conference opener for both teams.

UCA (5-9, 0-1) trailed by just two at 33-31 at halftime, but the Owls (9-5, 1-0) came out of the locker room on fire, outscoring the Bears 19-4 to open the final 20 minutes. KSU, which improved to 5-0 at home on the season, won the second half 49-35, shooting 59.4 percent from the field and making seven of its nine three-pointers.

UCA, meanwhile, shot just 37.5 percent in the second half, and 35.4 percent for the game. The Bears were 6 of 30 (20 percent) from three-point range on the day.  

"That was basically the ballgame, the first five minutes of the second half," said UCA head coach Anthony Boone. "We did play very well in the first half, with a few mistakes which are always going to happen in a game. We put ourselves in a position to come out, if we had a good second half, to have a good chance to win. 

"But that first five minutes, they came out swinging and we didn't, and that was the difference." 

UCA, playing without starting guard Collin Cooper, trailed by as much as nine points early in the game but battled back with rebounding and a couple of timely three-pointers by Elias Cato and Johannes Kirsipuu. The Bears tied it at 29-29 at the 4:00 mark and stayed within two points the remainder of the half. UCA had the ball with 28 seconds left to end the half but did not get off a good shot.

Seven Bears scored in the first half, led by redshirt freshman V.J. Reeves with seven points. UCA dominated the board 28-19 in the opening 20 minutes, including six from senior Eddy Kayouloud. Six players had at least three rebounds in the half.

The Owls opened the second half on fire with a 19-4 run to open up a 52-35 lead in the opening seven minutes of action. The Bears fought back with a 21-8 run, capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Camren Hunter, to get within 12 points at 70-58 heading into the final five minutes.

Hunter scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second half. Kayouloud, UCA's only senior, added 13 points and was the only other Bear in double figures. KSU was led by senior Demond Robinson with 21 points, one of four Owls in double figures.

The Bears will play their next two games at home at the Farris Center, against Florida Gulf Coast on Monday night in a doubleheader with the Sugar Bears, and again on Thursday night against Eastern Kentucky.