Kent State University
2-111-5 , MAC
Miami University (OH)
6-10, 0-3MAC
Flashes hold off late Miami run to move into tie for MAC East lead
1/12/2016 9:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats (pdf)
KENT, Ohio – Kellon Thomas scored 19 points and Jimmy Hall added 18 as Kent State held off a late Miami University run for a 76-68 victory on Tuesday night at the M.A.C. Center.
The Golden Flashes held a 15-point advantage with 5:30 to play, but saw its lead cut to just two points with 1:21 on the clock following a 7-0 RedHawks run. Hall, Thomas and Chris Ortiz combined to shoot 10-for-14 from the foul line the rest of the way, and the Flashes stepped up on the defensive end to get consecutive stops as the lead reached as high as eight in the final minute of play.
The victory moved KSU (11-5, 2-1 MAC) back into a tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference's East Division with Akron and Bowling Green.
"I would have liked to have seen do a better job of closing out the game, but we had several guys step up and make plays when we needed them over the final two minutes, said head coach Rob Senderoff. "We were up 15 with a little over five minutes to go, and then we stopped guarding and got a little careless with the ball. Overall, I thought we did a nice job defensively, especially the first 15 minutes of the second half. We have guys that have never been in situations like this, so we'll need to learn from it and close games out better going forward."
Thomas once again was the go-to player down the stretch, scoring 16 of his points after halftime. He shot 4-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point range, and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. His floater on the opening possession of the second half helped the Flashes extend a 34-27 halftime lead. Thomas handed out a game-high four assists against just one turnover.
Hall had a strong first half with 12 points on 4-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 at the foul line. He finished with six rebounds and three assists.
Deon Edwin's eight-point night included a three-pointer and layup on back-to-back possessions to give the Flashes their largest lead at 62-47 with 5:30 to play. Xavier Pollard did play one of his best games, finishing with five points on 2-of-6 shooting with 0 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 5 turnovers, but his insertion into the starting lineup was impatcful. After slow starts in both halves of Friday's loss to Buffalo, the Flashes opened the game with a 12-4 lead and went on a 7-2 run to start the second half.
Kent State held a 24-20 advantage in bench scoring. Chris Ortiz led the way with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds in 20 minutes. Jaylin Walker added eight points and Marvin Jones contributed two points, two rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot and excellent ball pressure at the top of the Flashes 1-3-1 zone for the stretch of the first half.
Eric Washington scored 11 of his game-high 20 points over the final 2:20 and Geovonie McKnight added 18, but the rest of Miami's starting lineup combined for just 10 points.
KSU shot 49 percent from the field as a team (23-of-47) and 32 percent from three-point range (8-of-25) while holding Miami to 39 percent from the field (24-for-61).
Kent State won the rebounding battle 38-31 while Miami outscored the Flashes 30-24 in the paint and 21-12 off of 17 KSU turnovers.
The Flashes return to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. when Ohio University visits the M.A.C. Center.
