Kent State University
4-2
Wofford
1-4
Men's Basketball Defeats Wofford, 66-59
11/23/2016 3:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ESTERO, Fla. – The Kent State University men's basketball team (4-2) won its final game of the Gulf Coast Showcase, defeating the Wofford Terriers (1-4), 66-59, Wednesday in Germain Arena.
"Tough, hard fought win and we needed it too," said head coach Rob Senderoff. "I think we needed it the way we got it too because it wasn't a 78-76 win…they scored 59 points, and I think we needed that to get our mentality back to where it needs to be."
The Golden Flashes fought through a rough shooting day to grind out a victory. Kent State overcame a 35.1 percent (20-for-57) shooting day by taking care of the basketball, committing only five turnovers to Wofford's 12. Kent State won the rebounding battle, 44-33, by pulling down 15 offensive rebounds.
Jaylin Walker paced the Flashes offensively, scoring 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting. He had four rebounds and a game-high three steals. Jimmy Hall had a team-best nine rebounds and scored 11 points.
For the third straight day, Kent State played a close game for 40 minutes. Neither team led by more than seven points, despite Kent State leading for all but 11 minutes. The Flashes jumped out to an 18-12 lead, its largest lead of the first half, with 9:28 remaining in the period.
From there, the Flashes went through their roughest shooting portion of the game, going 3-for-18 from then until halftime. The stretch included 12 straight missed buckets. However, the Flashes never trailed during that stretch. Kent State kept Wofford at bay due to seven offensive rebounds and one turnover. The hustle stats resulted in a 30-28 halftime lead for Kent State.
A jumper from Adonis De La Rosa and a 3-pointer from Desmond Ridenour gave the Flashes their largest lead of the game at 35-28. Wofford refused to let the game get away from them, making seven of their first 10 3-point attempts of the second half. The Terriers briefly led by three points at 46-43, but a Kevin Zabo 3-pointer erased the deficit.
"They hit some tough ones," Senderoff said. "I'm more proud of the guys for fighting through all of that, and not allowing missing shots to get them frustrated and just continue to compete the way we compete."
Kent State led, 56-51, with 4:30 left and defended well from then on out to close the game. The Terriers shot 1-for-6 down the stretch, while Jalen Avery and Hall iced the game with six straight made free throws.
In his second consecutive start, De La Rosa recorded nine points and six rebounds. Avery and Zabo shared point guard duties and each scored seven points. Jerrelle DeBerry scored eight points and shot 2-for-3 from deep.
The Golden Flashes will travel to Boston next to take on Northeastern Sunday at 2 p.m.
"That's going to be a really tough game," said Senderoff. "It'll be just like this Wofford game and just like the George Mason game. They are a very similar team to us, and we are looking forward to getting out there and taking another one."
