KSU men’s basketball team stopped by last-second three in season opener

For the Kent State men’s basketball team, Saturday night’s season-opening loss to Detroit Mercy at Calihan Hall in Detroit was an ugly performance. For Detroit Mercy, the win may be as Goode as it gets. Detroit Mercy senior guard Jon Goode stroked a 3-pointer as time expired to give his team a 61-60 upset victory over the Flashes.

“I knew it was good as soon as it came off my hand,” Goode said. “I just felt it . Chris Hayes made a good play to pass it to me. He just took a dribble and kicked it over to me.”

The shot spoiled a late comeback by the Flashes who hadn’t led since the 5:40 Mark in the first half, but came back to take the lead again with just 29 seconds remaining in regulation.

With 41 seconds remaining, and trailing 57-58, Kent State used a timeout to set up a play for sophomore guard Rodriquez Sherman. Sherman got the ball at the top of the key and drove to the hoop. His lay up attempt missed the mark, but senior forward Haminn Quaintance was there to tip the rebound away from Detroit Mercy.

The ball bounced around the paint until it finally found the hands of Kent State junior guard Jordan Mincy at the top of the key. Mincy fired the ball back to Quaintance underneath the hoop for a layup and a foul. Quaintance completed the three-point play putting the Flashes up 60-58 with just 29 seconds remaining. It was now up to the Kent State defense.

After watching Detroit Mercy shoot a scorching 58 percent from 3-point range the entire game, the Flashes guarded the perimeter forcing the Titans to take a timeout with five seconds remaining on the clock.

Detroit came out of the break and, once again, looked for a 3-point shot, but this time Kent State had a defensive breakdown.

“We said in the huddle no three and we lost our mind. We left (Goode),” coach Jim Christian said. “We planned on switching on everything, which is what we did and then we just ran at the guy for no reason. Guys got to remain poised at the end of the game. If we would of remained composed we would of won.”

Despite the close score, the Flashes looked like a team who was playing their first game of the season. They shot just 24 percent from the field and 15 percent from 3-point range in the first half, yet only trailed by three, 22-19, at the half.

The second half they shot the ball much better, as they hit 50 percent (12-24) of their shots. They also had 16 assist to just five turnovers in the game.

“I thought in the first half we took quick shots, bad shots and didn’t play together very well,” Christian said. “In the second half we finally played a little better. You got to play 40 minutes to beat teams especially on the road.”

Contact sports Editor Jonas Fortune at [email protected].