Men's Basketball Falls to West Virginia 65-54 in NIT
3/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Golden Flashes struggled shooting the ball tonight, hitting just 19-of-59 (.322) shots, including a dismal 4-of-27 (.148) from three-point range. Kent State also was careless with the ball, turning it over 20 times, which led to 19 West Virginia points.
Trailing by 12 points with 12:16 remaining, Kent State scored nine straight points to cut the lead to 46-43 with 8:26 to play. But West Virginia scored four unanswered points, then never let the lead get below five points during the second seven minutes, before extending the lead to 11 with just a minute left to go.
Sophomore forward Clif Brown led Kent State with 14 points, while grabbing six rebounds. Senior center John Edwards tallied his third career double-double with 13 points and 11 boards, while senior guard Eric Haut capped his career with 10 points.
Senior forward Bryan Bedford became Kent State's all-time leader in games played tonight, surpassing Andrew Mitchell and Trevor Huffman. Bedford appeared in his 132nd consecutive game, having helped Kent State to a 98-34 record in his four-year career.
Sophomore guard DeAndre Haynes tallied five assists tonight to become Kent State's single-season assist leader with 179, breaking the former mark of 174 set by Ed Norvell in 1996-97.
Kent State closes the season with a 22-9 mark, its sixth straight 20-win season, and its fourth consecutive Mid-American Conference East Division crown.
