FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Kentucky State Thorobreds battled conference opponent Paine College tonight at Exum Center and defeated the Lions 63-53. With the win KSU improves to 3-0 (3-0 SIAC), while Paine drops to 1-2 (1-2 SIAC).

KSU trailed the Lions for nearly half of the first period, but with 12:32 to play in the half, PC's Chris Hunt missed the free throw of an and-one play. Tony Johnson grabbed the rebound and dished it to Jamal Charles who hit a three-pointer to put the 'Breds up 16-15. KSU held on to their lead for the remainder of the half, seeing their build to 14 with :58 to play in the half. With :24 to play in the half, Austin Rich fouled Paine's Preston Hodge on a three-pointer. Hodge went to the line and knocked down all three free-throws, bringing the Lions within 11 at the half (35-24).

In the second half, KSU built a 17 point lead when William Marsh stole the ball from PC's Thomas Broughton and Johnson got the layup from Marsh's assist. Paine would not go down quietly, though, as capitalized on KSU turnovers and went on a 12-0 run to pull within five points midway through the second period. Rich knocked down a huge three-pointer for the Thorobreds to put them back up by 10 (45-35) with 10:04 to play in the game, but again, the Lions clawed their way back to within one point with 5:48 to play on a three-pointer by Hodge and two made free throws by Geno Green.

Tension was high in Exum for three minutes, but Mario Jordan missed two three-pointers in a row for the Lions and the "Breds scored on two layups to push the lead to 10 with 2:05 to play. KSU held the lead and defeated the Lions 63-53 to improve to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in the SIAC.

Green paced the Lions with 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Hodge and Jordan added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

KSU's Johnson led all scorers with 20 points while grabbing 13 boards. Kevin Smith continued his inspired play with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. As a team, the 'Breds out-rebounded the Lions 53-30, shot 94.4% from the free throw line and hit 34.4% of their shots from the field.

The Thorobreds are at home again on December 4, 2010 for another conference match-up against Claflin University. Tip-off is 3:00 p.m.