GREENSBORO, N.C. – In a tale of two halves, the Southern Virginia University Men's Basketball team (11-9, 4-5) earned an important conference victory over Greensboro College (10-10, 5-4) Wednesday night.

"This was a huge win for our team," exclaimed Head Coach Adam Wardenburg. "We played really well in the 2nd half! We are a great team when we play connected for 40 minutes!"

The game began with almost three minutes of no scoring. The Knights opened the scoring with back-to-back layups by Malakai Olson and Shaun Kenedy, the only two baskets before the under-16 media timeout.

Following the timeout, the Pride scored six straight points to take the lead, which they would not give up for the remainder of the first half. After Southern Virginia tied the match up at six, a 7-1 run by Greensboro would open up the scoring.

Southern Virginia would get a boost from Dane Ibsen, who was fouled on a three-point attempt and knocked down all three shots from the line to cut the deficit to three.

The teams would then trade baskets over the next four-plus minutes until an Abe Connolly three-pointer knotted the contest at 27. However, Greensboro would use the remaining 3:20 of the first half to build a lead heading into halftime, scoring 12 of the match's next 15 points.

Coach Wardenburg said the message during the break "was to stay connected and do the little things. We had too many turnovers and weren't doing the little things in the first half."

The second half began similarly to the first, with only eight points being scored before the first media timeout, four apiece, but Southern Virginia would come out firing following the media timeout, going on a 12-0 run to retake the lead for the first time since the opening minutes.

An Ibsen jumper would stretch the Knight's lead to double-digits with 6:02 remaining in the contest. Then, four consecutive free throws by Kenedy would add to the advantage.

Free throws were a huge story in the contest, with Southern Virginia converting 22 free throws, six more than Greensboro attempted. "Making more free throws than the other team shows that we are attacking the paint and being aggressive on the offensive glass," Wardenburg declared. "Our offense revolves around getting the ball in the paint on every possession."

Shaun Kenedy was especially aggressive in the second half, scoring 15 of his game-high 22 points in the second stanza. "When Shaun gets to the paint, he always makes the right decision for our team," stated Wardenburg. "He causes defenses to collapse when he's making shots, which opens things up for our team all over the court."

Koa Baker recorded yet another double-double, his 12th of the campaign. His 16 boards were also a season-high and tied the program record for rebounds in a single game. Baker also added 15 points.

"Koa's toughness set the tone for our team," added Wardenburg. "He battles on both ends and is a great X-factor for us. Teams that we play don't have someone like Koa, and we need him to do the little things for us to keep winning."

Southern Virginia will return to 'the Barn' for the year's second contest against Brevard College on Saturday, Feb. 4.

To keep up with the game and for all the most up-to-date information regarding Southern Virginia University men's basketball, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_hoops on Instagram.