Kent State University
7-4
Wright State University
8-4
Men's Basketball Comeback Effort Falls Short against Wright State
12/18/2016 7:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State University men's basketball team (7-4) fell short in a comeback effort Sunday, taking its first home loss of the season against the Wright State Raiders (8-4), 68-63.
The Golden Flashes were led in the scoring column by Jaylin Walker, who registered 17 points and four rebounds. Desmond Ridenour scored 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting, while collected five boards. Jimmy Hall had his second straight double-double with 11 points and team-best 11 rebounds. He tied a season-high with three blocks and a career-high with three steals.
Wright State established themselves early on the hot hand of top scorer Mark Alstork, who scored 18 first half points on 7-for-10 shooting. A 7-for-9 shooting start for the Raiders gave them their largest lead of the first half at 18-8.
Kent State swung back eight minutes into the game, going on a 16-5 run to take a 24-23 lead with 5:50 left in the half. Wright State recovered quickly and established a slight advantage to end the period, entering halftime up, 36-32.
At the start of the second half, The Flashes had to fight through offensive woes, starting the period 0-for-8 from the floor. While the Raiders established an 11-point lead, a Deon Edwin 3-pointer ended the drought and brought the Flashes within six points at 45-39. However, an 11-0 run by Wright State gave the road team its largest lead at 56-39 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
A Justin Mitchell layup gave Wright State a 65-51 lead with 6:50 remaining, but it would be the last field goal of the game for the Raiders. Kent State came charging back down the stretch, holding the visitors to 0-for-5 shooting with two turnovers. While Wright State looked to milk the clock, the Flashes went on a 12-0 run, putting the game at 65-63 with 2:41 left after a Jaylin Walker three-point play.
The Flashes were within a possession of Wright State, but could not score the equalizer. Kent State missed five chances to tie or take the lead, including multiple shots that rimmed out. The Raiders went 3-for-4 in the final minute at the free throw line, just putting the game out of reach on the final possession.
Kent State shot 34.4 percent (22-for-64) from the floor, while Wright State shot 44.6 percent (25-for-46), including 12 3-pointers. The Golden Flashes collected 36 rebounds, 14 on offense, and won the turnover battle, 12-18.
"I know what we need to do to win and tonight we didn't do it," stated head coach Rob Senderoff. "We got outrebounded, had our season low for assists, shot the worst percentage from the field and from 3 because of the lack of assists. We just didn't play well, that's the bottom line."
Deon Edwin also produced Sunday, scoring 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting. He also recorded seven rebounds and a career-high two blocks. Jalen Avery chipped in four points and two assists.
The Flashes will hit the road for their final two nonconference games, starting with Oregon State Wednesday at 11 p.m. EST/8 p.m. PST on ESPNU.
