Kent State University
16-8, 7-4MAC
Northern Illinois University
16-8, 5-6MAC
Cancer's late free throws lift Flashes past NIU 75-74
2/9/2016 9:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats (pdf)
KENT, Ohio – Galal Cancer's two free throws with 7.5 seconds to play provided the winning margin as Kent State held off a late Northern Illinois run to win 75-74 at the M.A.C. Center on Tuesday.
After the Huskies grabbed a one-point lead on a jumper by Travon Baker with 15 seconds to play, Cancer raced down the floor, drove for the rim, and drew a whistle on Baker. Cancer finished with 13 points for his second double-digit scoring night in a row, helping the Golden Flashes (16-8, 7-4) deal with injuries that have kept two of his backcourt mates on the sideline.
"I glanced over to the bench and coach was telling me to attack, so I was trying to make a play and be aggressive at the rim," Cancer said. "I'm not worried making or missing foul shots. I had a rough start to the year, so I just got back to the mechanics and have shot better throughout the season."
Cancer's work was not finished after converting at the charity stripe. He pressured Baker as he crossed the midcourt line and moved his feetto stay in front of him as he drove into the lane, and Khaliq Spicer came over to force Baker to float his shot over him, and it bounced off the rim and out of bounds as the final buzzer sounded.
"It was a great win for us," said head coach Rob Senderoff. "We needed it, and they obviously needed it too. I'm proud of these guys for finding a way to get this one done. The defense in the first half was great. That's what kept us in the game, and then in the second half we started to score. We obviously could have closed the game out better. Some days I might be upset about, but not today."
Spicer led a balanced scoring effort with 17 points, as four starters reached double-figures. Jimmy Hall and Kellon Thomas contributed 11 points each and Deon Edwin rounded out the starting unit with 9 points. Edwin provided great energy on defense and matched his career-high with four steals in just 21 minutes.
"It was a total team effort tonight," Senderoff said. "Raasean played some great minutes. I thought in the first half, Jalen Avery played some great minutes. CO didn't shoot it very well, but I thought he played much better than in prior games. He came up with a big steal and made some big plays for us."
Raasean Davis provided six points and two rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench. Chris Ortiz added five points and four rebounds. Most importantly, Ortiz provided a key tip-dunk to give Kent State a 10-point lead with just under two minutes remaining. He helped get a key defensive stop on the previous possession by stripping the ball from Northern Illinois center Marin Maric.
Led by Hall and Spicer, the Flashes controlled play near the rim. Hall grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and Spicer pulled down 7 boards to help Kent State outrebound NIU, 41-31. The Huskies entered the night as the MAC leader in rebound margin and offensive rebound percentage, but the Flashes limited them to just 7 offensive boards and held a 12-8 edge in second chance points. The Flashes also outscored the Huskies, 38-22, in the paint.
The Flashes trailed 28-26 at the break after a sloppy first half that saw them shoot 10-for-30 (33.33 percent) from the field and commit 11 turnovers that ld to 15 NIU points. The Huskies also struggled to put the ball in the basket during the opening 20 minutes, shooting just 8-for-22 (36.4 percent), but converted 12-of-14 at the foul line compared to just 4-of-8 for the Flashes.
Kent State looked like a new team on the offensive end of the court when it returned to the floor, scoring on the first six possessions as part of a 17-5 run that saw the Flashes take a 43-33 lead. Cancer opened the scoring with a three-point field goal. Edwin then finished over an NIU defender on a drive into the lane and Spicer got a putback. Hall and Spicer scored in the lane and Hall split a pair of free throws before NIU finally got a stop just before the first media timeout.Â
For the half, the Flashes shot 16-for-28 from the field (57.1 percent) and committed just two turnovers en route to 49 points, which is the second-most in a half vs. a Division I opponent this season.Â
Northern Illinois was led by Aaric Armstead's 22 points. Maric and Baker added 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Huskies, who fell to 16-8 overall and 5-6 in MAC play.
Kent State will travel to Eastern Michigan for a noon game on Saturday before returning home to face Western Michigan on Feb. 16 and Akron on Feb. 19.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
