Kent State Tops Buffalo 77-71 In Overtime

Al Fisher scores eight the Golden Flashes 10 in the extra session

KENT, Ohio - After a late rally to force overtime, senior Al Fisher (Pennsauken, N.J. / Redlands (Okla.)) took over in the extra session as Kent State earned a 77-71 win over Buffalo on Thursday night at the M.A.C. Center. Winning for the ninth time in 11 games, the Golden Flashes improved to 9-5 in a tight Mid-American Conference race and 17-13 on the season. The Bulls fell to 10-5 in the MAC and 18-10 overall.

The senior trio of Fisher, Jordan Mincy (Memphis, Tenn. / Ridgeway) and Julian Sullinger (Columbus, Ohio / Fork Union Military Acad. [Va.]), combined for 40 points while junior Chris Singletary (Chicago, Ill./Florida Prep.) shot 12-14 from the line and led all scorers with 19.

"Jordan's been playing really well for quite a while and Julian rebounded tonight better than he has all year." said Kent State Head Coach Geno Ford, "Al struggled the whole night until it was crunch time when he made a couple monstrous plays for us and obviously had the game winner."

Reaching double figures for the fourth time in the last five games Mincy had 13 points, three assists and three steals to raise his average to 11.1 points per game in the last 11 contests. Sullinger meanwhile posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while dishing out three assists him self. Fisher ended the game with 15 points and five rebounds.

Kent State took control of the first half with 15-3 run on the way to a 36-31 lead at the break. Down 15-14, the Golden Flashes put together another defensive stand holding Buffalo to just one field goal in a 7:19 span. During the run four different players scored for KSU and left them up by 29-18 at the 8:43 mark. The lead grew to as many as 14-points before the Golden Flashes offense went stagnate and didn't score over the final four minutes of the period.

The struggles continued at the start of the second half for Kent State as Buffalo pulled within one (37-36) in the opening four minutes. Despite having a 14-point first half lead diminished, Kent State (which shot just 26 percent) did not trail in the second half until a three-pointer by the Bulls' Rodney Pierce with 5:32 left in regulation.

"It's hard to have some flow offensively if you come down and get a shot you're comfortable with but the guy doesn't make it," said Ford, "They (Buffalo) guard really well and they're a hard team to make shots against because they're the most physical team in the league."

Kent State did not make a field goal the final six minutes of regulation, but four players combined to shoot 8-10 from the foul line to help force the extra period. Down by four (66-62) with four minutes left, Singletary hit 4-4 at the charity stripe down the stretch. Two games ago in a 67-66 loss to Bowling Green, he missed the second of two free throws in the final seconds that would have forced an extra session. This time the Chicagoland product nailed both free throws with 16 seconds remaining to tied the game at 67.

Once in over time Fisher scored the first basket to put KSU up for good as the Golden Flashes defense held Buffalo to just 1-7 from the field.

For the game Kent State shot 77 percent (26-34) from the foul line and 38 percent from the floor. Buffalo made 41 percent, but hit on just 14-27 (52 percent) at the stripe. Greg Gamble led the Bulls with 17 points and six assists.

In other MAC games Miami defeated Bowling Green and Akron won over Ohio. Buffalo, Bowling Green, Akron and Miami are all tied for first in the East Division at 10-5 with the Golden Flashes one game back.

Kent State hosts Akron on Sunday at 12:00 pm in the regular season final. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio.

NOTES: Jordan Mincy is now tied for second all-time in MAC history with 131 career games played ... Mincy had scored double figures in four of the last five games after doing so just twice in the first 126 ... The overtime game was the fifth of the season for Kent State (3-2) ... KSU had already played more overtime games this season than any other in school history ... Kent State is 15-7 in overtime since the 1999-2000 season ... The 19 points are the most points from Chirs Singletary in six games (had back to back 19s at Ball State and at NIU) ... Kent State has won 26 of the last 28 at home against MAC opponents ... Kent State is 12-0 at home all-time against Buffalo and has a 22-4 record in the head-to-head series.

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