Men’s basketball falls to Miami

Senior forward Chris Ortiz slams back an offensive rebound during the second half against Northern Illinois at the M.A.C. Center on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. The Flashes won, 75-74.

The Kent State men’s basketball team (18-11, 9-7 Mid-American Conference) lost its second-straight game following a 74-65 loss to Miami University (11-18, 5-11 MAC) on Saturday.

Coach Rob Senderoff was ejected from Saturday’s game after taking back-to-back technical fouls at 14:50 in the second half. Senderoff was not available for comments following the loss.

Despite trailing by as many as 20 points, the Flashes went on a 10-0 run following Senderoff’s ejection, cutting the lead down to 10 with 10:50 remaining in the game.

In his first game back from injury, freshman guard Jaylin Walker made a three with 1:42 remaining in the second half as Kent State trailed the RedHawks 66-60.

However, Miami scored eight more points in the last minute and took a 74-65 win over the Flashes.

Walker led the Flashes in scoring, finishing with 20 points and 3 rebounds, while redshirt junior forward Jimmy Hall recorded his sixth double-double this season, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Redshirt junior guard Kellon Thomas finished with 12 points and senior forward Chris Ortiz scored 7 points and 4 rebounds.

With this loss, the Flashes move into fourth place in the Mid-American Conference as they return to the M.A.C. Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday to take on Bowling Green State University (14-15, 5-11 MAC).

Zac Sommer is a sports reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].