Kent State University
9-7, 1-2MAC
Northern Illinois
10-6, 2-1MAC
Men's Basketball Drops Overtime Game to Northern Illinois, 74-70
1/10/2017 11:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State University men's basketball team (9-7, 1-2 MAC) dropped an overtime game at home against the Northern Illinois Huskies (10-6, 2-1 MAC) Tuesday, 74-70.
Jaylin Walker paced the Golden Flashes with a team-best 22 points, including a line of 6-for-10 from 3-point range. He also collected five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Deon Edwin scored 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting, while Desmond Ridenour scored eight points and collected a team-best seven rebounds. Ridenour and Edwin led the Flashes in assists at four apiece.
"Tough night for us, we are struggling right now in a lot of ways," said head coach Rob Senderoff. "We have to find a way to get ourselves out of the funk we are in. It doesn't take much to see… too many turnovers, too many offensive rebounds for them. They did a good job of converting the free throws that they needed to, and we didn't get there enough."
The Flashes ran out to an early lead they would hold onto the entire half. Tied at 5-5, the Flashes went on a 10-0 run to take their first double-digit lead. NIU worked its deficit down to one possession at 22-19, but Kent State went on another run of eight straight points to rebuild the lead. The Kent State defense held NIU without a field goal for the final 6:11 of the period, and two 3-pointers from Jaylin Walker gave the Flashes a 12-point halftime lead.
Kent State never trailed in the second half, but stayed in the game throughout. Back-to-back baskets from Edwin gave Kent State its largest lead of the game at 44-31 with 15:46 remaining. From there, the Huskies battled back and cut the deficit to three points on multiple occasions. Each time, the Flashes answered with a timely basket, until an offensive skid plagued the home team over the final seven minutes of regulation.
With four minutes remaining in the second half, Kent State led, 62-56. NIU climbed back in the contest and tied the game with three straight buckets. Edwin worked his way to the line two score two points on the ensuing possession, but a driving layup put the game at 64-64. After the Flashes came up short on their end, NIU had a chance to take its first lead of the game at the free throw line with 21 seconds on the clock. Leading scorer Marin Maric missed both attempts, but the Flashes missed game winner on the opposite end to send the contest to overtime.
The Flashes' offensive woes continued in the overtime period, as the home team shot 2-for-11. Two free throws with 3:54 left gave NIU its first lead of the game. Kent State tied the game up twice, but a Maric free throw and a Laytwan Porter jumper put the road team up, 71-68, with 46 seconds left. Kent State scored one more basket in the final minute, but could catch the Huskies, who shot 3-for-4 at the foul line to end the game.
Overall, Kent State shot 40 percent (24-for-60) from the floor and 43.5 percent (1-for-23) from 3-point range. After going 31-for-31 in their last home game, the Flashes shot 12-for-13 from the free throw line. Northern Illinois finished shooting 37.3 percent (25-for-67) from the floor, 21.4 percent (3-for-14) from distance.
Adonis De La Rosa registered nine points, six rebounds and three blocks Tuesday. Jimmy Hall scored seven points and brought down four boards.
Kent State returns to the road Saturday to take on Western Michigan at 2 p.m. on ESPN3.
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