The Kent State men’s basketball team was unable to win its third straight game as road underdogs, falling to the Loyola-University Chicago Ramblers (25-11) by a score of 72-62 in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals, officially sending the Flashes into the offseason.
“I’m certainly disappointed that the season ended for us, but I’m proud of our team. I’m proud of all that we accomplished all season long, certainly in these last 10 days,” coach Rob Senderoff said.
The game started with both teams hitting shots at a high rate, and every Kent State basket, whether a 2-pointer or a 3-pointer, was being reciprocated by the Ramblers.
Six minutes into the game, the Flashes held a 17-15 lead before Loyola scored five straight to take a three-point lead.
The defenses settled in, allowing a combined 14 points in the next eight-and-a-half minutes, leading to a 26-25 Ramblers lead with under five minutes remaining in the first half.
Kent State would tie the game at 30-30 but would find itself down by a very manageable 37-33 score at halftime.
Loyola exploded coming out of the break, starting the second half on a 23-11 run to take a 60-44 lead.
“They played eight guys, and I thought every guy for their team had a really positive impact on the game for them, as did our guys, but they just played a little bit better than we did tonight,” Senderoff said.
The Flashes cut into the lead in the next couple minutes, but ultimately, the lead swelled to as many as 19 points.
Down 67-48 with just under nine minutes remaining, Kent State got the defensive production it needed, only allowing an additional five points the rest of the game.
“We got some stops, and they missed some open shots that they had made,” Senderoff said. “That allowed us to get out in transition when we rebounded, and we made a couple there, and we also actually missed a few that I thought could have made it even tighter.”
Despite an impressive defensive showing down the stretch, offensively, the spark was never found, and the Flashes only scored 14 points in the final nine minutes of the 72-62 defeat.
“I’m proud of our guys because it’s tough when you’re down 18 on the road against a good team and to battle back and cut it to nine,” Senderoff said.
Though he led the team in scoring with 12 points, senior guard Jalen Sullinger was contained, shooting just 5-17 from the floor and 2-7 for three.
Senior forward VonCameron Davis led the charge offensively early for the Flashes with nine of the team’s first 17 points but did not score for the rest of the game.
Davis got into foul trouble early in the second half and was forced to sit for a good portion of the second half. Davis later fouled out with under six-and-a-half minutes to go in the game.
“He had a rough night. Him and Jalen both offensively had a rough night, and Von fouled out obviously. When he got the two fouls in a minute in the second half, I had to take him out of the game. That hurt us, that’s when they stretched the lead,” Senderoff said. “Von gives us an inside presence. He’s a guy that we can get the ball to and who can score or demand a double-team. We didn’t have that quite as much with him out.”
Despite Davis’ final game at Kent State not going the way either he or Senderoff wanted, Senderoff had high praise for the First-Team All-MAC selection.
“He’s had an unbelievable career, he’s an unbelievable kid who’s going to graduate here this spring who stuck it out at Kent for five years, which again, doesn’t happen all that often nowadays, especially for a guy who was an All-Conference player,” Senderoff said. “I’m proud of him. He leaves Kent as the all-time leader in games played, and this NIT run allowed him to extend that record to make it harder to be broken.”
Junior forward Delrecco Gillespie recorded another double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, five being on the offensive glass, while sophomore guard Cian Medley, who was scoreless in Sunday’s win at Stanford, contributed 10 points and four assists. Sophomore guard Jamal Sumlin was a help for the Flashes off the bench, scoring 11 points on 4-6 shooting.
Though the Flashes’ season came to an end, they still posted an impressive 24-12 record and a top-three finish in the conference despite multiple injuries and departures during the season.
The run to the NIT quarterfinals was just the third time Kent State had made it that far in the tournament.
“This has been an unbelievable 10 days for our basketball team. It’s been an unbelievable 10 days for our school. I’ve gotten more messages from alums and more emails from fans,” Senderoff said. “We had three nationally televised games, and the opportunity to compete against three awesome programs. It’s been awesome to be a part of this.”
Demetri Manousos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].