Hopes of a Mid-American Conference championship have gone dry for the Kent State men’s basketball team, as its been eliminated from the MAC tournament following a 75-68 loss to the Akron Zips on Friday.
They say don’t read the same book and expect a different ending, which was true for the Flashes’ third and final matchup of the season with the Zips. KSU has been outplayed each time.
Offensively, the Flashes could not keep up with the Zips’ scoring level throughout the night, finishing shooting 29% from the floor and 26% from 3-point range.
None of KSU’s players had a first half to remember, but they came out of the locker room with something to prove. The game looked to be all but over at halftime as the Flashes trailed by 14, but the team clawed back to make it a game.
Despite KSU’s heart, foul trouble for junior guards Cian Medley and Jahari Williamson, as well as senior forward Delrecco Gillespie, put the team in a hole they could not climb out of.
Leading the way for the Flashes was graduate forward Rob Whaley Jr. with 15, but he could only grab one rebound.
Akron shot the ball well all night, and as a part of that, senior guard Shammah Scott led the Zips in scoring with an efficient 18 points.
MAC play is over for the Flashes, as the only hope of more basketball rests in the National Invitation Tournament. Selection Sunday will occur on March 15, with the first round starting two days later on Tuesday.
Josh Szeremet is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
Editor’s Note: Grammatical errors were fixed for clarity. The National Invitation Tournament is not hyphenated.
