Kent State University
4-3
Northeastern University
4-2
Men's Basketball Falls on the Road to Northeastern, 73-70
11/27/2016 5:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOSTON – The Kent State University men's basketball team (4-3) dropped the final game of its nine-day road trip, falling to Northeastern (4-2), 73-70, Sunday.
Jimmy Hall led the way for Kent State with a season-high 25 points on 11-for-14 shooting. He also led the Golden Flashes in rebounding for the seventh straight night with seven boards, going along with two assists, a block and a steal.
"I'm disappointed in how we played in the second half," said head coach Rob Senderoff. "Jimmy played hard. When he got the ball inside, good things happened. But we didn't get it to him nearly enough in the second half."
Desmond Ridenour led the team with three assists. Deon Edwin and Kevin Zabo each joined Hall in double figures, with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Edwin also recorded three steals.
The game was a tale of two halves, and the Kent State defense looked sharp in the first. The Huskies marched out to a 7-4 lead, but would quickly fall behind for the majority of the period. Tied at 12 points, The Flashes went on a 14-3 run, aided by back-to-back 3-pointers from Jerrelle DeBerry and Mitch Peterson. Northeastern's lone basket during that run, a Devon Begley jumper, would be the starting point of a seven-minute drought without a field goal.
Kent State forced 11 turnovers in the first half and held the home team to 2-for-11 shooting from distance. A Zabo half-court heave off the backboard gave the Flashes their largest lead at the break at 42-25. Foul trouble led to the Huskies going 9-for-15 at the line, preventing the Flashes from building an early 20-point advantage.
Northeastern caught fire quick in the second half, making eight of their first 11 shots of the period. A 16-2 run for the Huskies over a five-minute stretch brought the game within a possession at 47-50 with 11:58 remaining. The Flashes answered with three straight buckets, building their lead back up to nine points.
Kent State held onto its lead for a majority of the second half, but Northeastern eventually took a 69-68 lead with two minutes left on a Begley 3-pointer. Hall tied the game at the line in the ensuing possession, but Northeastern scored on their next two trips down the floor to take a four-point advantage. The Flashes missed two quick 2-point attempts, but Alonzo Walker earned a convenient one-and-one opportunity with eight seconds left. Walker made the first and Jalen Avery snatched an offensive rebound on the second. Kent State had a chance to tie the game on the final shot, but the 3-point attempt was blocked.
Overall, the Flashes shot 46.3 percent (25-for-54) from the floor and 77.8 percent (14-for-18) from the foul line. Northeastern shot 48.9 percent (23-for-47) from the floor and connected on 65.6 percent (21-for-32) of the free throw attempts. Each team converted six treys. The remaining overall stats were extremely close, with Northeastern taking the rebounding margin, 31-29, and Kent State winning the turnover battle, 15-16.
The Golden Flashes will return to Kent for their longest home stand of the season, beginning Friday, Dec. 2 against Grambling State at 7 p.m.
"This was a long trip," said Senderoff. "We'll regroup and hopefully get better here coming up."
