• Final Score: Gannon 83, Kentucky State 58
• Records: Gannon (1-0), Kentucky State (0-1)
• Location: Hammermill Center | Erie, Pa.  
• The Short Story: Chris Clancy (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) netted a team-high 15 points and Braden Olsen (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) passed out a game-high 12 assists to lead Gannon past Kentucky State, 83-58, on Tuesday night at Hammermill Center.

• Box Score: Click here
• Webcast Replay: Click here
• Gameday Twitter Thread: Click here
• Kelvin  Jefferson Postgame: Click Here
• Chris  Clancy Postgame: Click Here
• Ike  Herster Postgame: Click Here
• Photo Gallery: Click here

• Kentucky State jumped out to a quick 5-1 edge before Braden Olsen (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) connected on his first triple as a Golden Knight to make the score 5-4 at the 16:49 mark. The Thorobreds answered stretching their lead up to six, 14-8.  Gannon then found a rhythm on the offensive end with a quick 8-2 run to lock the contest, 16-16, following a pair of free throws from Emanuel Henriques (Baltimore, Md./Benjamin Franklin) with 10:46 to play in the half.
• Gannon was able to take its first lead of the contest after Chris Clancy (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) found Robertas Jonaitis (Pakruojis, Lithuania/Greater Beckley Christian School) in transition, 20-19. The Knights then erupted on an 11-2 run to push their lead into double digits, 31-21, after Clancy buried a three pointer with three minutes to play in the half. Gannon led at the intermission, 33-28. Nine different Knights scored in the first half with Ike Herster (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) setting the pace with a team-best six points.
• Gannon came out firing in the second half as Olsen netted his second triple of the contest to extend the edge to nine, 44-35. The Knights continued to roll assembling a 14-0 run featuring two triples from Clancy to push their lead to 46-38. Josh Wilkerson responded for the Thorobreds with a three of his own, 58-41, with 12:13 to play.
• Gannon stayed hot rattling off three straight baskets to make the score 60-43 following a Jonaitis dunk with 8:18 on the clock. The Knights put the game out of reach building their largest lead of the game, 76-51, after Donovan Forte (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights) drained a jumper with 3:40 to play. Gannon closed out the remaining time to pick up the season-opening win, 83-58.

• Gannon topped Kentucky State to pick up its first season-opening win since the 2018-19 season.
• The Knights shot 43.4 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from three.
• Gannon netted 38 points in the paint and the bench contributed 32 points.
• As a team, the Knights hauled in 48 total rebounds, including 27 on the defensive end of the floor.
• Clancy netted a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. He also connected on three triples and notched a game-best four steals.
• Olsen passed out a game-high 12 assists with nine points in his first game as a Knight. It marked the most assists by a Gannon player since the 2016-17 season. He also added three rebounds and two steals to his stat line.
• Herster also reached double digits in scoring with 13 points in his first college game. He shot 5-of-12 from the field and buried three triples.
• Jonaitis rounded out the top performers with 11 points and five in rebounds in his college debut.
• 10 different Knights scored at least three points in the contest.

• Gannon will wrap up its two-game series with Kentucky State tomorrow at Hammermill Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. No fans will be permitted, but live streams will be available.

"As we continue to go, we're going to get better and better." - Head Coach @Jefferson_Kelv #UKnighted pic.twitter.com/HEOYlgdA6I

— Gannon Athletics (@GUKnights) January 13, 2021