The Kent State men’s basketball team went into halftime of its senior night against Eastern Michigan down five points.
The Flashes then embarked on a second half in its last game of the regular season that saw the team outscore the Eagles by 11 points.
The 76-70 win Friday night marked the 21st win of the season for the Flashes, who finished the regular season 21-10 with an 11-7 record against MAC opponents.
How it went
The Flashes only dropped 31 points in the first half, leading to its five-point deficit going into the break.
EMU shot much better than the Flashed throughout the first half. EMU shot 52.4% in the half while KSU shot lower at 39.1%.
Both teams shot the same from three, but Eastern Michigan made one more three in the half.
In the second half, KSU struggled to get back into the game, as the lead swelled to 11 points about four minutes into the half.
A mini run by the Flashes with a layup make and a 3-pointer cut the lead in half to six points, but EMU got right back with a 12-point lead.
By the 11:50-mark, Eastern Michigan’s lead reached its highest mark in the game at 14 points. Then, KSU got to work to cut the lead.
The scoring started with a couple free throw makes by junior forward Delrecco Gillespie, making the score 57-45.
Senior guard Jalen Sullinger hit on a 3-pointer after EMU missed its shot on the other end, which slashed the lead to single-digits.
Coming out of a timeout, EMU missed on its offensive possession, leading to another bucket from Gillespie from an and-one layup. The score was 57-51 at that point.
After forcing a turnover, Kent State converted on another triple from Sullinger, which brought the lead down to just three points.
With about seven-and-a-half minutes in the game, KSU traded a couple free throws for another huge 3-pointer from Sullinger to make it a two-point game. Just one possession separated the two teams.
EMU’s offense once again turned the ball over to the Flashes, who went down the floor and converted on a layup to tie the game.
Eastern Michigan took a little control, building a four-point lead shortly after the tie, but KSU bounced back with a tip-in bucket from senior center Cli’Ron Hornbeak.
The next possession, sophomore guard Cian Medley hit a momentum-changing 3-pointer to take the one-point lead with just over three minutes left in the game.
As the clock dripped down to under a minute, which is when the Flashes hit on another layup from Hornbeak, leading to a four-point lead, putting the game out of a one-possession reach.
After a missed 3-pointer from EMU, Kent State grabbed the rebound and took it up, leading to a foul, sending the Flashes to the line.
After converting on both free throws, the lead was up to six points, and then a foul with eight seconds left made it an eight-point affair.
Kent State fouled EMU with just a second left in the game, and EMU made both of its free throws, which led to the game ending 76-70 in the Flashes’ favor.
In the second half, KSU and EMU each shot about 46% from the floor, but Kent State shot 17% better from 3-point range in the half.
For the entire game, KSU shot better from three, but worse from the field in general.
KSU had a narrow five-rebound lead in the game, and the Flashes also had more assists than EMU had.
Two of EMU’s three top scorers were from the bench, leading to a 31-25 advantage in bench points for EMU. Eastern Michigan had two more points in the paint area, but KSU made the most impact on second chance points, outscoring EMU 17-8 in the category.
Player impacts
Once again, the top sorcerer for the Flashes was Sullinger, who ended with 18 points. It was the team-high and was tied for the game-high.
He added four rebounds in the win.
Redshirt senior forward VonCameron Davis and senior guard Marquis Barnett were the other starters in double-figures for the Flashes.
Davis went for 16 points, five rebounds and one assist with one block and four steals. Barnett had an even 10 points with two assists and three steals.
Off the bench, Medley, with his huge game-changing late 3-pointer, scored 11 points on the night with five rebounds and three assists.
Looking ahead
With the regular season over for Kent State, the team will advance to play in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Thursday.
As the three-seed in the tournament, KSU will play Western Michigan in the first round in Cleveland.
On Tuesday, Kent State defeated Western Michigan by one point, but the Flashes lost by 11 points on Jan. 14 against WMU.
Coach Rob Senderoff and the Flashes will look to play in its fourth-straight MAC Championship game at the end of the week.
John Hilber is sports editor. Contact him at [email protected].