Flashes defeat Ohio Northern 75-66

Senior forward Frank Henry-Ala guards Ohio Northern’s Sam Bastian during a scrimmage Monday night at the M.A.C. Center. The Flashes beat the Polar Bears 75-66. HANNAH POTES | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: DKS Editors

Senior guard Tyree Evans showcased his above-average perimeter game in Monday night’s 75-66 win over Ohio Northern for the Kent State men’s basketball team’s first exhibition game.

But Kent State coach Geno Ford said the game was closer than he would have liked.

“We had the mentality that it was going to be easy,” Ford said. “We’re not tough enough to put someone away. We just let them (Ohio Northern) hang in there. We’ll get better.”

Evans, who was tagged as the 38th best shooter in the nation by Foxsports.com, led the team with 24 points. He totaled four 3-pointers and went 7-of-15 from the field.

“If it wasn’t for Tyree, we could of got beat,” Ford said. “Offensively, he was the only guy that gave us stuff consistently.”

With a 40 percent three-point shot on the day, Ford said he was pleased with Evans’ shot selection.

“(Evans) is a 40 percent three-point shooter, that’s as good as you can find,” Ford said. “He’s going to certainly take some quick ones, and he’s going to certainly take some challenging ones.”

Kent State entered halftime with a hefty 43-30 lead. Evans hit half of his 3-point attempts (3-of-6), made all six foul shots and went 5-of-9 from the field, totaling 19 points.

Senior guard Mike McKee started the Flashes’ second-half scoring with a layup in the first 30 seconds. Evans quickly continued scoring with a jumper to up the lead to 47-32, and Kent State coasted from there.

In the final minute, the Polar Bear offense tried to cut into the Flashes’ lead but only was able to come within nine points.

Injuries kept junior guard Rodriguez Sherman and senior guard Chris Singletary on the bench for the game.

Singletary was named to the East Division All-Mid-American Conference Preseason team, and Sherman leads the Flashes at point guard and is a big part of the defense.

“We’re hopeful that we might be able to get some minutes out of them on Saturday,” Ford said. “We’re going to try to start working them into practice this week.”

Kent State will travel to face Wooster on Saturday for the final exhibition game, then will welcome Samford on Nov. 13 for the first regular-season game in the Hispanic College Fund Classic.

Contact sports reporter Cody Erbacher at [email protected].