Kent State Continues to Roll With 72-62 Win Over Ohio
2/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Golden Flashes improve to 15-0 at home
KENT, Ohio - The Kent State men's basketball team never trailed in a battle between the top two teams in the Mid-American Conferences East Division on Saturday (Feb. 16) as the Flashes went wire to wire to defeat Ohio 72-62 at the M.A.C. Center. The win improves Kent State's record to 21-5 over all and 10-2 in the MAC as well as keeping their record at home flawless (15-0). The defeat drops Ohio to 16-8 and 7-5.
Junior Al Fisher (Pennsauken, N.J. (Redlands C.C.) (Pennsauken)) led three Kent State players in double figures with 17 points and a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore Chris Singletary (Chicago, Ill. (Farragut/Florida Prep (Fla.)) scored 16 points and chipped in four assists and three steals while senior Haminn Quaintance (Sarasota, Fla. (Jacksonville University) rounded out the trio with 12 points to go with six rebounds and three assists.
KSU forced 19 turnovers which turned into 14 points. On the offensive end, Kent State shot 55.6 percent from the field (25-for-45) while also hitting seven three-pointers on the day. Not only were the Flashes hitting shots from the perimeter, they were also making their presence felt inside with 24 points in the paint.
Kent State wasted little time in their attempt to avenge their loss to Ohio earlier this season when Singletary connected on the team's first shot of the night, a three, to spur KSU onto a 7-0 lead early.
"With anybody, the first shot is kind of big. If you hit it, you're going to feel good about yourself, said Singletary, " 'Q' gave me a good pass and I stepped in and knocked it down. I fed off of it and kept playing hard."
In what would become a trend in the first half, Ohio was held scoreless for the opening minutes of the contest. The Kent State defense showed flashes of brilliance in the opening 20 minutes as they forced Ohio into 11 turnovers in the first half. Aside from the Bobcats' Bubba Walther, who scored 16 points in the first half, Ohio was held to 28.6 percent (4-for-14) shooting.
With the game tied at 8-8, Kent State would catch fire and go on a 17-7 run highlighted by four points a piece by Singletary and Fisher while the defense held OU without a field goal from the 8:05 mark until there was 3:47 to go up 25-15 with less than seven minutes to play.
The Flashes built their biggest lead of the of the half when junior Julian Sullinger (Columbus, Ohio (Fork Union (Va.) Military Acad.) got the ball down low and managed to draw a foul while finishing and converting from the foul line to put Kent State up 28-16. The two teams played evenly for the final four minutes to head into the half with KSU up seven 32-25.
The Bobcats appeared poised to take a lead on several occasions in the second half, but Kent State always had an answer. With their lead down to four (34-30), Quaintance and senior Mike Scott (Indianapolis, Ind. (Northwest) threw down back-to-back dunks that not only kept the Bobcats at bay but also brought the majority of the 6,130 spectators to their feet.
When Ohio managed to cut the lead to just two (46-44) with 10 minutes to go, Singletary sent a Bobcat lay up attempt that would have tied the games into the bleachers. Quaintance then proceeded to score five consecutive points to provide some cushion for the Kent State lead (51-44). Finally, with KSU up eight points, a three-pointer from defensive specialist junior Jordan Mincy (Memphis, Tenn. (Ridgeway) put the game away.
Kent State ended the game with seven straight foul shots to secure the 72-62 win. The Flashes continued their clutch foul shooting this afternoon going 10-for-13 in the second half.
"We've been in a lot of close ones," Head Coach Jim Christian said. "When they cut it to 2 and we found 'Q' on the baseline. Our team has to understand and I think they're getting it now, that those are the times in games that you really have to execute."
Guarded by Mincy for much of the second half, Walther scored just six points in final 20 minutes, finishing with 22 on the day. Leon Williams added 13 points and a game high 12 rebounds for the Bobcats.
The Flashes will travel to play Buffalo on Tuesday Feb. 19 at 7:00 p.m. This is the second meeting between the two MAC East rivals, Kent State one the first game this year 68-63 at the M.A.C. Center.
NOTES: KSU has won 15 straight and 23 of the last 24 at home ... Head Coach Jim Christian is now 73-27 (.730) in 100 career MAC games ... Al Fisher has scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games and has 10 straight games with double figures ... KSU has won 18 straight games when scoring over 70 points ... KSU shot 62.5% from the FT line ending a streak of 10 straight games shooting over 70 percent ... The Golden Flashes now have 999 wins in program history.
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