Kent State University
4-2
Cleveland State University
2-6
Spicer's career-high leads Flashes past Vikings in Cleveland
12/5/2015 6:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CLEVELAND – Khaliq Spicer doubled his career best in scoring while helping Kent State edge Cleveland State 66-62 in a battle of regional rivals at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday.
Spicer hammered home a string of two-handed dunks, converting 9-of-11 from the field and scored 22 points – 11 better than his previous career-high from Dec. 30, 2014 at Kansas. The senior center also grabbed eight rebounds while teammate Jimmy Hall added 14 points, nine rebounds and a team-high six assists. Most of those assists came on post-to-post passes to Spicer.
"Khaliq and Jimmy were both great today. They played very well together and gave us a real post presence, " said Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff. "This was a great team effort, though. Cleveland State is a very good test for us to prepare for Mid-American Conference play. It took some big plays down the stretch by Khaliq, Jimmy, Chris Ortiz, Galal Cancer, Kellon Thomas and really everyone for us to come get the stops we needed, get the lead, and then hold on for the win."
A switch to a 1-3-1 trap midway through the second gave Kent State the spark it needed to mount a 9-0 run that gave the Flashes the lead for good.
"Cleveland State wants to pressure you, and there were stretches when they gave us some real trouble," said Senderoff. "But we ended up doing a better job of scoring off of their turnovers, outscoring them 13-3."
CSU led for the last time at 45-44 before a layup by Spicer with 9:44 to play
"This felt good," said Spicer. "I worked hard a was really focused out there. I'm playing with confidence… that comes from my teammates and my coaches. They tell me every day how good I am and what I am capable of doing. It really helps me."
Kent State led by as many as eight points at the 7:08 mark, but couldn't shake Cleveland State until forcing a string of stops in the final minute, keeping the Vikings from cutting into a two-possession lead. Hall turned in a potential game-saving play, racing back in transition with 28 seconds to play, setting his feet and drawing a charge against CSU's Rob Edwards.
After a slow start offensively, Kent State battled back late in the first half to take a 28-27 lead going into halftime despite 11-for-26 shooting from the field and 1-of-7 from three-point range. For the game, Kent State converted just 2-of-12 from beyond the arc, but made up for that with 34-26 advantage in the paint. KSU also won the rebounding battle 29-23.
Cleveland State was led by Andre Yates, who scored 14 points behind 4-of-6 on threes. Edwards added 12 points while Vinny Zollo scored 10 points to go with a team-best 10 rebounds.
Kent State is back in action on Monday when it travels to play the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Postgame Press Conference
