KENNESAW - Kennesaw State's men's basketball team has the talent, but team chemistry is taking longer to develop.

The Owls played some of their best basketball of the season in spurts Saturday night against Campbell, but they appeared out of sorts during the first 13 minutes of the game.

The team's slow start led to a 63-53 loss to the Camels in an Atlantic Sun Conference game at the KSU Convocation Center.

The Owls (5-11, 1-5) are still a team searching for the right formula and it showed right after opening tip.

A combination of poor shot selection, turnovers and bad decisions by Kennesaw State helped Campbell gain the early advantage. The Camels (9-5, 4-1) took advantage of the Owls' woes to take a 9-1 lead in the fourth minute of the game, and that lead swelled to 23-9 with 7:56 left to play in the half.

"We're trying to find ourselves," Kennesaw State coach Tony Ingle said. "This team has never been together before, really. We have people playing different roles."

Jonathan Rodriguez led Campbell with 25 points, playing an active role in getting the Camels on top early. It was his 3-pointer at the top of the key that staked Campbell to its 14-point lead.

In the last 3 minutes of the first half, however, the Owls started showing signs of life. They made made key defensive stops late in the period and ended the half on a 6-0 behind two tip-ins by Jon-Michael Nickerson and an alley-oop dunk by Kurtis Woods on a feed from former Whitefield Academy standout Kelvin McConnell.

Kennesaw State's 6-0 spurt to end the half in a 29-21 deficit was only the beginning. The Owls continued to make shots to start the second period.

Woods, who led the Kennesaw State with 24 points, got hot from long range after the Owls returned from the locker room. He drained three of his first four 3-point attempts, and his third 3 from the top of the key put the Owls within five, 37-32, with 14:19 left, forcing Campbell to call a timeout.

Point guard Spencer Dixon, a Kennesaw Mountain High School product, followed Woods' example and hit a deep 3 to put the Owls within two points with 12:30 left to play, but that was as close as they would get.

A 3-point play by Campbell's Kyle Vejraska, and a jumper by Rodriguez, sparked a 10-2 Campbell run, which was enough for the Camels to preserve the victory. The Owls couldn't get within eight points the rest of the way.

"Coach (Ingle) said, 'Work hard, work smart, work together,'" Kennesaw State center LaDaris Green said. "We're working hard, we're working together, but not as smart. We're just not being patient.

Markeith Cummings scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds for the Owls. Dixon added seven points.

For Campbell, Lorne Merthie scored 13 points, while McConnell's former Whitefield Academy teammate, Junard Hartley, led with nine assists.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

? Kennesaw St. 75, Campbell 65: The Lady Owls started fast and finished strong, snapping a six-game losing streak en route to the Atlantic Sun victory.

After struggling from the field in the last three games, Kennesaw State (5-10, 2-4) jumped to a quick first-half lead, taking a 31-18 advantage with roughly 5 minutes left to play, and never trailed.

Kennesaw State pulled away midway through the second half with a 17-2 run after the Lady Camels rallied to tie the game at 45-all.

The Lady Owls finished the game shooting 48.3 percent (28-for-58) after finishing in the 20s and 30s the last three games.

Angie Smith led Kennesaw State with 15 points, while DeAndrea Bullock and Ashley Holliday each scored 12.

"(Saturday) was the best 40 minutes they played in a long time," Kennesaw State coach Colby Tilley said. "It's been a growing process. I hope we're not through growing, but I hope we're at the point that we're going to be in games instead of being out of them."

Tonisha Baker led Campbell (8-6, 3-2) with 14 points.