Kent State University
10-5 (1-1)MAC
Northern Illinois University
7-6 (1-1MAC)
Late free throws lift Flashes to 67-65 win at Northern Illinois
1/10/2015 10:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DEKALB, Ill. – Devareaux Manley scored all of his 19 points in the second half and Kent State hit some clutch free throws down the stretch as the Golden Flashes escaped their first road trip of the Mid-American Conference season with a 67-65 win at Northern Illinois on Saturday.
"We found a way to win a tough game," said Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff, whose Flashes improved to 10-5 overall and 1-1 in MAC play. "That's what you have to do in the Mid-American Conference. You have to find ways to win tough ones, and its even more satisfying when you can do it on the road on a night when you don't play quite as well as you'd like to. Devareaux Manley was great for us in the second half, and Marquiez Lawrence and Kris Brewer hit some big free throws."
Lawrence drilled two from the line with 55.7 seconds to play to give Kent State a 65-63 lead. After NIU tied the game on its next possession, Brewer made the deciding free throws after being fouled on a drive to the basket with 15.1 seconds to play.
Anthony Johnson missed a runner in the lane for Northern Illinois (7-6, 1-1) with four seconds to play. The ball was batted around under the basket before Chris Ortiz secured the rebound for Kent State just as the buzzer sounded.
The finish came with Kent State's starting front line watching from the bench. Jimmy Hall fouled out with 3:30 to play and Kent State holding a slim 59-58 lead. Khaliq Spicer followed him to the bench with 1:46 remaining and the game tied, 63-63. Hall finished with 15 points and four rebounds while Spicer scored eight points and matched Ortiz with a team-high six rebounds.
After a first half that saw the teams play to a 29-29 tie, the final 20 minutes turned into a back-and-forth battle that featured 10 ties and 9 lead changes.
"Devareaux was 0-for-3 in a scoreless first half, but then he really heated up," said Senderoff. "When he gets going, he is one of the best shooters in the country. He hit 5-for-5 from three in the second half, and we needed every one of them."
Northern Illinois was led by Jordan Threloff, who scored 15 of his game-high 21 after halftime. The 6-foot-9 senior also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, helping the Huskies win the rebounding battle 39-30 and take a 19-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Kent State's biggest advantage came from the three-point arc, where the Flashes converted 40 percent of their shots (6-of-15) compared to Northern's 18 percent (2-for-11).
The Flashes also hit 21-of-27 from the foul line – a solid 77.8 percent for a team that began the day 59.5 percent of its free throws. Kent State was 11-of-13 from the line (83.3 percent) in the second half, including the all-important makes by Brewer and Lawrence in the closing minute.
The win ended Northern Illinois' school-record 11-game winning streak at home.
Kent State will return to the M.A.C. Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to face Eastern Michigan.
