Kent State University
14-5, 5-1MAC
Bowling Green
12-7, 3-3MAC
Flashes win fourth straight, down Falcons 62-59
1/23/2016 7:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Kent State pulled out a dramatic 62-59 victory over Bowling Green Saturday afternoon at the Stroh Center behind junior Jimmy Hall's impressive 26-point, 16-rebound performance.
In a contest that turned into a defensive battle, it was only fitting that an outstanding play on the defensive end of the floor sealed the victory for the Golden Flashes (14-5, 5-1 MAC). With 0.9 on the clock, the Falcons inbounded the ball from the sideline to Zack Denny, who was cutting to the near corner. Denny was blanketed on the play by Galal Cancer, who was able to him up as he turned to the basket and prevent a final shot from being taken. The play ended a tough night for the Falcons' second-leading scorer was held scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.
"This was a gritty game, and that's what it takes to win in this conference, especially on the road," said head coach Rob Senderoff. "For the second straight game, I thought our frontline really played well. We scored 21second chance points and 36 points in paint, and that was the difference in game."
Hall, who had a double-double prior to halftime, shot 11-for-25 from the floor and was one point off his season-high. He grabbed many of his own misses and finished with nine offensive rebounds. Khaliq Spicer scored seven points on 3-for-3 shooting and made a key free throw with 2.3 on the clock while grabbing nine rebounds. Chris Ortiz added five rebounds off the bench. The trio combined for four blocked shots.
"Jimmy struggled to finish tonight but I thought he played at a really high level," said Senderoff. "He played a big role in us controlling play around the basket."
Kent State's defense clamped down on the Bowling Green offense from the opening tip to take a 30-19 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Falcons made just two of their first 15 field goal attempts and shot just 6-for-30 (20.0 percent) over the first 20 minutes, including 1-for-10 (10 percent) from the three-point arc.
"The first half was the best defensive half we've had in several years," Senderoff said. " Our league numbers are significantly better than our non-league numbers. We knew we had to get better defensively to be successful. We made some changes after the Buffalo game, but we have to keep it up to continue winning games."
Tied at 14 with 7:18 to go in the opening half, Kent State held Bowling Green scoreless for 6:29 during an 11-0 run to create a 25-14 lead. It remained an 11-point advantage at the half, 30-19.
Bowling Green was quick to respond out of the intermission, going on a 9-0 run to cut the Golden Flashes lead down to four points
At 5:52 the game was knotted up at 51 a side and the Flashes went on an 8-1 run for the next 4:55, with six points coming from Jimmy Hall to make the score 59-52. The Falcons promptly went on a 6-2 run of their own, getting baskets from Spencer Parker and Antwon Lillard to make it a 61-58 game.
Kent State fouled Ismail Ali with a three-point lead and 2.3 to go and made the first free throw, then intentionally missed the second. Khaliq Spicer came down with the rebound in traffic and was fouled. Spicer made one of two free throws to go back ahead by three. Bowling Green's long inbounds passed was knocked out of bounds by the Flashes, setting up Cancer's final play for the defensive stand.
The Golden Flashes were paced by Hall's 26 point performance, shooting 11-25 from the floor, and Xavier Pollard with 12 points on 4-9 shooting with two field goals from behind the arc.
Bowling Green improved on their first half shooting to score 58% (15-26) in the second half. Kent State held the Falcons second leading scorer, Zack Denny who was averaging 15.2 point per game, scoreless on seven shots. Bowling Green did not have a lead in the second half.
The Falcons were led offensively by Spencer Parker and Wes Alcegaire who each dropped 14 points. Antwon Lillard and Demajeo Wiggins scored eight and seven respectively.
Kent State finished with a 44-38 edge in the rebounding department, and had 19 offensive boards, compared to 11 for the Falcons. Kent State also led in points in the paint (36-22), points off turnovers (11-8) and used their offensive rebounds for 21-4 advantage on second chance points.
Next on the slate for Kent States is a Tuesday night tilt with the Eastern Michigan at the M.A.C. Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
