Kent State University
12-11, 3-7MAC
Eastern Michigan University
13-10, 5-5MAC
Flashes suffer 70-53 road loss to EMU
2/8/2014 4:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Long scoring droughts in both halves helped to ruin Kent State's hopes on Saturday as Eastern Michigan ended a 17-game losing streak against the Golden Flashes with a 70-53 win at the Convocation Center.
The Eagles had not beaten the Flashes since February of 1998.
Eastern broke open a close game and took a 35-25 lead into the break as Kent State failed to score during a seven-minute stretch of the first half. After a 7-0 run to open the second half trimmed the deficit to just three, the Flashes managed only two points over the next four minutes as the Eagles rebuilt a double-digit advantage.
A bright spot for Kent State was the play of a young group of sophomores, who combined with junior Derek Jackson, cut a 19-point Eastern Michigan lead to just seven points late in the second half.
Four players from the sophomore five of Kellon Thomas, Khaliq Spicer, Chris Ortiz, Devin Carter and K.K. Simmons were on the floor throughout a four-minute run that saw the Flashes outscore the Eagles 15-3. A fast-break layup by Thomas, who drew a foul for a three-point play, cut the Eastern lead to 56-49.
Derek Jackson and Darren Goodson led Kent State with 11 points. Jackson added four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 31 minutes.
Spicer's five rebounds helped Kent State to a slim 34-33 rebounding advantage. He also added four blocked shots. Eastern swatted away eight shots, led by Glenn Bryant's three
The Eagles were led by Raven Lee and Darell Combs, who scored 15 points each, while Karrington Ward added 10 points. Da'Shonte Riley pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
After shooting a respectable 45.5 percent from the field in the first half (10-for-22), the Flashes struggled to shoot just 26.7 percent in the final 20 minutes (8-for-30), including just 1-of-16 from three-point range (6.3 percent). For the game, Kent State converted 4-of-26 from the arc (15.4 percent).
Eastern Michigan (13-10, 5-5) made 41 percent of its threes (5-for-12) on its way to 44.7-percent shooting from the field.
Kent State (12-11, 3-7) will host Bowling Green on Wednesday.
