For at least one day, Fighting Owls proved more fierce than Screaming Eagles as Kennesaw State claimed its first Division II Men's Basketball Championship title March 27 in Bakersfield, California.

The Owls of Kennesaw State started slowly in the championship game against Southern Indiana but made up for it by opening up a 12-point lead through the first seven minutes of the second half. They then then used ferocious defense to fly away with an 84-59 victory.

Terrence Hill scored 26 points, including four three-pointers, and joined his teammates in grabbing a total of 16 steals and holding the Eagles to 36.8 percent shooting for the game.

Kennesaw State overcame an early 10-2 run by the Eagles, then quickly took control with a 14-2 run of its own and claimed a lead midway through the first half that the Owls never again surrendered.

However, Southern Indiana -- which found points tough to come by, missing six of seven three-point attempts in the first half -- stayed close and trailed only 30-24 at intermission.

"Terrence Hill wasn't going to let us lose," said Owls coach Tony Ingle. "We kept refocusing on our defense the entire game. We were already here mentally before we got here physically."

Kennesaw State took control for good by opening up a 39-27 lead after halftime, then never eased up in outscoring the Eagles, 54-35, in the final period. Hill capped another Owl run that began midway through the half with a three-pointer that gave Kennesaw State a 65-42 lead with 6:24 left.

"We were prepared as much as we could be," said Hill, who was named the Elite Eight's most outstanding player. "We came in today trying to stop the three-pointer. We knew if we did that, they'd have to go to the post."

The Owls gave up only three more treys in the second half and held Southern Indiana to 23.5 percent (four of 17) from behind the arc for the game.

Kennesaw State's Georgy Joseph joined Hill on the all-tournament team with 15 points -- including the Owls' first 10 points of the game -- along with nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Kevin McDonald came off the bench to contribute 10 points and five steals.

The Owls become the first team from the Peach Belt Conference to win the Division II title. The team finished league play undefeated and then won the Peach Belt postseason tournament before sweeping through the South Atlantic regional, winning its final 26 games to finish 35-4. Kennesaw State advanced to the championship game with victories over Pfeiffer in the quarterfinals and Humboldt State in the semifinals.

Southern Indiana, which won the title in 1995, made its third appearance in the championship game and extended a streak that has seen teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference play in 11 straight national finals.

The Eagles advanced to the championship game with a quarterfinal win over Northwest Missouri State, then edged top-ranked Metro State in the semifinals, 83-81, on Joe Gordon's driving lay-in with two seconds left. The victory snapped Metro State's 30-game winning streak. Gordon and the Eagles' Cris Brunson also were named to the all-tournament team, along with Metro State's Luke Kendall.

Kennesaw State claimed its second title of 2003-04, adding the basketball crown to the victory by its entry in last fall's Division II Women's Soccer Championship.

Quarterfinals

Southern Ind. 88, Northwest Mo. St. 81; Metro St. 88, Rollins 54; Kennesaw St. 86, Pfeiffer 79; Humboldt St. 89, Mass.-Lowell 82.

Semifinals

Southern Ind. 83, Metro St. 81

Metro St.: Luke Kendall 8-18, 9-11, 2, 30; Michael Morse 1-8, 2-2, 5, 5; Lester Strong 3-6, 5-6, 6, 11; C. J. Massingale 4-9, 4-5, 5, 13; Keith Borgan 1-5, 0-0, 2, 3; Jamar Bohannon 3-5, 0-0, 3, 8; Mark Worthington 0-2, 2-2, 3, 2; Greg Muth 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Ben Ortner 4-6, 1-2, 4, 9. TOTALS: 24-59, 23-28, 31 (1 team), 81.

Southern Ind.: Joe Gordon 6-15, 1-2, 4, 17; Billy Harris 3-5, 7-9, 7, 13; Randy Holbrook 2-5, 2-2, 5, 6; Avery Queen 0-4, 5-6, 2, 5; Cris Brunson 10-15, 2-2, 3, 27; Clarence Chillers 2-3, 2-2, 1, 6; Mike Arnold 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Geoff Van Winkle 1-5, 0-0, 4, 3; John Oden 2-5, 2-2, 7, 6. TOTALS: 26-57, 21-25, 39 (6 team), 83.

Halftime: Metro St. 37, Southern Ind. 36. Three-point field goals: Metro St. 10-19 (Kendall 5-11, Morse 1-1, Massingale 1-1, Borgan 1-3, Bohannon 2-3); Southern Ind. 10-27 (Gordon 4-8, Holbrook 0-1, Queen 0-3, Brunson 5-10, Van Winkle 1-5). Officials: Bob Vethoetter, Rich Ridenhour, Tim Comer. Attendance: 1,043.

Kennesaw St. 81, Humboldt St. 67

Kennesaw St.: Reggie McKoy 3-7, 3-4, 3, 9; Terrence Hill 7-16, 8-13, 4, 22; Georgy Joseph 10-13, 3-5, 10, 24; Tommy Thompson 3-9, 2-4, 5, 9; Rey Luque 3-8, 3-4, 4, 11; Tobias Seldon 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; Kevin McDonald 0-2, 0-0, 5, 0; Justin Thompson 1-2, 0-0, 1, 2; Cardale Talley 1-3, 0-0, 1, 2. TOTALS: 29-61, 19-30, 35 (2 team), 81.

Humboldt St.: Austin Nichols 7-15, 9-10, 8, 27; Fred Hooks 4-10, 7-8, 11, 15; Trey Shannon 3-5, 0-0, 7, 7; Mark White 1-7, 2-2, 3, 5; Jordan Feramisco 1-7, 0-0, 2, 3; Kejuan Johnson 2-4, 0-0, 0, 4; Kaylin Thornton 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0; Jeremiah Ward 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Dustin Kaatz 2-3, 2-2, 5, 6. TOTALS: 20-53, 20-22, 40, 67.

Halftime: Kennesaw St. 41, Humboldt St. 37. Three-point field goals: Kennesaw St. 4-11 (Hill 0-2, Joseph 1-1, Thompson 1-2, Luque 2-6); Humboldt St. 7-25 (Nichols 4-9, Shannon 1-1, White 1-5, Feramisco 1-7, Johnson 0-1, Thornton 0-1, Kaatz 0-1). Officials: Tom Mauer, Justin Ingalls, Richard Staver. Attendance: 1,354.

Championship game

Kennesaw St. 84, Southern Ind. 59

Kennesaw St.: Reggie McKoy 2-9, 1-2, 6, 5; Terrence Hill 8-16, 6-8, 7, 26; Georgy Joseph 4-8, 6-9, 9, 15; Tommy Thompson 3-5, 0-0, 4, 7; Rey Luque 2-11, 0-0, 2, 5; Tobias Seldon 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Darrell Fisher 1-1, 0-0, 1, 3; Taylor Patterson 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Kevin McDonald 3-4, 3-4, 4, 10; Will Davis 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Justin Thompson 0-1, 0-0, 4, 0; Kenan Knight 1-1, 0-0, 0, 3; Israel Ingle 0-0, 3-4, 0, 3; Cardale Talley 3-6, 0-0, 1, 7. TOTALS: 27-63, 19-27, 43 (4 team), 84.

Southern Ind.: Joe Gordon 3-10, 0-0, 5, 9; Billy Harris 1-4, 4-4, 1, 6; Randy Holbrook 6-11, 3-4, 10, 15; Avery Queen 0-4, 0-0, 2, 0; Cris Brunson 4-10, 0-0, 1, 9; Clarence Chillers 0-1, 1-4, 4, 1; Mike Arnold 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Ayton Branch 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Scott May 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0; Geoff Van Winkle 1-6, 1-1, 2, 3; John Oden 4-5, 3-5, 2, 11; Travis Farmer 2-3, 1-2, 1, 5. TOTALS: 21-57, 13-20, 35 (6 team), 59.

Halftime: Kennesaw St. 30, Southern Ind. 24. Three-point field goals: Kennesaw St. 11-23 (Hill 4-7, Joseph 1-1, Thompson 1-2, Luque 1-7, Fisher 1-1, Patterson 0-1, McDonald 1-1, Knight 1-1, Talley 1-2); Southern Ind. 4-17 (Gordon 3-7, Queen 0-1, Brunson 1-4, May 0-1, Van Winkle 0-4). Officials: Tim Comer, Tom Maven, Justin Ingalls.