Kent State University
13-11, 4-7MAC
Bowling Green State University
10-14, 4-7MAC
Manley Three Gives Flashes 62-61 Win Over Falcons
2/12/2014 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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Manley's Game-Winner
KENT, Ohio – Devareaux Manley drilled a three-pointer from the left corner with 0.9 seconds remaining to lift Kent State to a 62-61 victory over Bowling Green on Wednesday night at the M.A.C. Center.
The Manley buzzer-beater was Kent State's second in a row on its home floor, following the 28-foot three by Darren Goodson that downed the University of Akron 11 days earlier.
Manley joined Derek Jackson in coming off the bench to lead turnarounds after Bowling Green jumped out to 13-point leads early in both halves. The one-point win matched the biggest lead Kent State enjoyed all night long.
"That was a huge shot by Dev at the end and and Derek played his best game in a Kent State uniform," said Flashes head coach Rob Senderoff, whose team improved to 13-11 overall and 4-7 in Mid-American Conference play.
In his first non-starting assignment of the year, Jackson scored a career-high 25 points on 8-for-11 shooting, including 5-of-7 from three-point range. His three gave the Flashes their first points of the night with 14:59 to play in the first half. The junior guard added four assists and his two steals turned into easy layups in each half.
"I just want to win," said Jackson. "Whether that's with me starting or coming off of the bench, that means I have to approach the game the same way. This was a total team effort tonight. You had my 25 points, Dev with the shot at the end, Mark Henniger with the eight rebounds. We can't win tonight if it wasn't about everybody coming through. That's the way it has to be for us."
Manley finished with 14 points, going 5-of-12 from the field and 3-for-9 from the arc. His game-winner more than made up for an ill-advised foul just nine seconds earlier. With the game tied at 59-59, Manley missed a jumper from the right corner, then was whistled for knocking Bowling Green's Spencer Parker out of bounds while trying to hustle for the long rebound.
Parker made both free throws to give the Falcons a brief lead. Kent State's Kris Brewer raced the length of the floor and had his bid at a driving shot blocked, but Henniger's hustle kept the play alive and gave the Flashes one last chance with three second to go after the ball deflected off of a Bowling Green player. The stage was set for Manley's last-second heroics.
"That was a great shot by Dev at the end, but you also can't forget the play by Mark that kept the ball alive to give us that shot," said Senderoff. "That's what we've been talking about. It's about the little things that are the difference between winning and losing. Tonight we did just enough of the little things."
Bowling Green (10-14, 4-7) found its own heroic performances from Jehvon Clarke and Anthony Henderson, who scored 18 and 12 points, respectively. Kent native Cameron Black added a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds for the Falcons. But Bowling Green's bench added little support as Craig Sealey, J.D. Tisdale and Josh Gomez combined to go just 1-for-6 from the field for just two points to go with two rebounds.
Kent State's bench outscored the Falcons reserves 45-2 and out-rebounded them 12-2.
The Flashes return to action on Saturday when they host Central Michigan.
