Senior forward Chris Evans scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but his effort wasn’t enough to help Kent State win at home on Saturday night.

In their first home contest after a two-game road trip, the Flashes (5-3) fell to visiting Princeton (3-4) 62-50 in front of 2,715 at the M.A.C. Center.

Princeton stormed out to a 16-2 lead in the first 8:23 of the first half and never trailed in the entire game. Junior guard T.J. Bray made all three of his 3-point attempts to lead the Tigers with 15 points and six assists.

The Flashes contained senior forward Ian Hummer, Princeton’s leading scorer, but allowed senior center Brendan Connolly to score 11 points.

Princeton made 55 percent of its shot attempts, including 47.4 percent from behind the 3-point arc.

Kent State cut Princeton’s lead to as little as six with 2:49 remaining in the game, but a defensive lapse on the following possession resulted in an easy, two-handed dunk for Connolly and the Flashes never recovered.

Kent State made just 34 percent of its field goal attempts in the loss. Guards Randal Holt and Kris Brewer each finished with nine points for the Flashes, who will return to the road this week for games at Bucknell and Xavier.

Look for more coverage and analysis of this game in Monday’s edition of the Daily Kent Stater.

Contact Nick Shook at [email protected].