By EVAN MEYER
KENT, OHIO – Junior Jalen Avery scored 16 points -- all of them in a span of 3:15 to help the Kent State Golden Flashes defeat the Akron Zips 78-68 Saturday afternoon before a near sellout crowd of 6,055 at the MAC Center.
With Akron leading 58-57 and 5:04 remaining, Avery began his scoring binge with a 3-pointer from the left corner. From that . . .
KENT, OHIO – Junior Jalen Avery scored 16 points -- all of them in a span of 3:15 to help the Kent State Golden Flashes defeat the Akron Zips 78-68 Saturday afternoon before a near sellout crowd of 6,055 at the MAC Center.
With Akron leading 58-57 and 5:04 remaining, Avery began his scoring binge with a 3-pointer from the left corner. From that . . .
. . . point on, Kent State (13-14, 7-7 MAC) finished the game with a 26-7 run to secure the victory and end a four-game losing streak -- the Flashes longest of the season.
“It was a great win for us.” KSU head coach Rob Senderoff said. “We were down five with six minutes remaining. We stayed together and made some big plays down the stretch -- both on offense and on defense.”
Junior Jaylin Walker led KSU with 27 points, scoring 12 of his points from 3-point range. Freshman B.J. Duling added a career high 13 off the bench, adding four rebounds and two steals
Akron (11-15, 4-10 MAC) absorbed its fifth loss in the last six games and remains winless on the road so far this season.
“We played well today leading for 24 of the 40 minutes in the game.” Zips head mam John Groce said. “At the end of the day we were leading by five with five minutes toi go, and I was disappointed we did not close the game out.”
Grad Malcolm Duvivier matched Walker for high scoring honors with 27 points, adding a steal and two blocked shots. Sophomore Daniel Utomi contributed 20 with two assists.
UA started the game strongly scoring 12 unanswered points after the Flashes sank the opening basket. It was 12-2 after a reverse layup by freshman Mark Kostelac.
Akron would hold a lead for most of the opening 20 minutes. After KSU tied the score 14-14 on a pair of free throws by senior Kevin Zabo, the Zips pushed the lead out to five. 26-21. when freshman Torrey Patton made one of two free throws.
With 18.7 seconds remaining, junior Adonis DeLa Rosa scored on a putback of Danny Pippen's miss to give the home team a 32-31 lead at halftime.
After Utomi hit a three at the start of the second half to give UA the lead 34-32, the Flashes went on a 15-5 spurt to open an eight-point advantage, 47-39, at the 15:56 mark.
The Zips stayed within striking distance, then went on a 17-4 run to take their last lead of the game, 58-54, with 5:23 remaining on a pair of free throws by Duvivier.
From that point on, Avery took over -- starting with a three from the left corner at the 4;45 mark. After a pair of free throws by Zabo that gave KSU the lead for good at 59-58, Avery then connected on a three from the left arc and followed by converting two and-one plays. He finished the run with with four free throws.
“When I saw that first basket (the first three), it boosted my confidence going into the latter part of the game.” Avery said.
Asked about Kent State‘s key players, Groce said “I think Pippen was the X-factor in the first half and Avery in the second half.”
KSU scored on eight consecutive possessions in the final moments to take complete control. “They made the big plays and we didn’t," Groce said.
Meanwhile, Jaylin Walker felt the win could be a springboard for the Flashes. “This will build for out next game, I believe this victory will give us the confidence we need.”
NOTES:
>>> The game was statistically close until the final four minutes as KSU shot 56 percent in the second half, finishing at 42.6 percent (23-of-54). The Flashes won the rebound battle 35-30. They dominated in point off turnovers 20-13, 10-2 in second chance points, and in bench scoring 21-8
>>> Akron shot just 39.6 percent from the field (21-of-53) and 9-of-21 from beyond the arc. Jimond Ivey, one of the Zips top scorers, tallied only five points, going just 1-11 from the field (missing all five of his chances from two-point territory)
>>> Both teams return to action on Tuesday, with Akron heads to Bowling Green to battle the Falcons while KSU travels to Ohio to face the Bobcats.
>>> KSU head coach Rob Senderoff is 7-10 lifetime against Akron while UA head coach John Groce is 4-6 lifetime against the Golden Flashes
“It was a great win for us.” KSU head coach Rob Senderoff said. “We were down five with six minutes remaining. We stayed together and made some big plays down the stretch -- both on offense and on defense.”
Junior Jaylin Walker led KSU with 27 points, scoring 12 of his points from 3-point range. Freshman B.J. Duling added a career high 13 off the bench, adding four rebounds and two steals
Akron (11-15, 4-10 MAC) absorbed its fifth loss in the last six games and remains winless on the road so far this season.
“We played well today leading for 24 of the 40 minutes in the game.” Zips head mam John Groce said. “At the end of the day we were leading by five with five minutes toi go, and I was disappointed we did not close the game out.”
Grad Malcolm Duvivier matched Walker for high scoring honors with 27 points, adding a steal and two blocked shots. Sophomore Daniel Utomi contributed 20 with two assists.
UA started the game strongly scoring 12 unanswered points after the Flashes sank the opening basket. It was 12-2 after a reverse layup by freshman Mark Kostelac.
Akron would hold a lead for most of the opening 20 minutes. After KSU tied the score 14-14 on a pair of free throws by senior Kevin Zabo, the Zips pushed the lead out to five. 26-21. when freshman Torrey Patton made one of two free throws.
With 18.7 seconds remaining, junior Adonis DeLa Rosa scored on a putback of Danny Pippen's miss to give the home team a 32-31 lead at halftime.
After Utomi hit a three at the start of the second half to give UA the lead 34-32, the Flashes went on a 15-5 spurt to open an eight-point advantage, 47-39, at the 15:56 mark.
The Zips stayed within striking distance, then went on a 17-4 run to take their last lead of the game, 58-54, with 5:23 remaining on a pair of free throws by Duvivier.
From that point on, Avery took over -- starting with a three from the left corner at the 4;45 mark. After a pair of free throws by Zabo that gave KSU the lead for good at 59-58, Avery then connected on a three from the left arc and followed by converting two and-one plays. He finished the run with with four free throws.
“When I saw that first basket (the first three), it boosted my confidence going into the latter part of the game.” Avery said.
Asked about Kent State‘s key players, Groce said “I think Pippen was the X-factor in the first half and Avery in the second half.”
KSU scored on eight consecutive possessions in the final moments to take complete control. “They made the big plays and we didn’t," Groce said.
Meanwhile, Jaylin Walker felt the win could be a springboard for the Flashes. “This will build for out next game, I believe this victory will give us the confidence we need.”
NOTES:
>>> The game was statistically close until the final four minutes as KSU shot 56 percent in the second half, finishing at 42.6 percent (23-of-54). The Flashes won the rebound battle 35-30. They dominated in point off turnovers 20-13, 10-2 in second chance points, and in bench scoring 21-8
>>> Akron shot just 39.6 percent from the field (21-of-53) and 9-of-21 from beyond the arc. Jimond Ivey, one of the Zips top scorers, tallied only five points, going just 1-11 from the field (missing all five of his chances from two-point territory)
>>> Both teams return to action on Tuesday, with Akron heads to Bowling Green to battle the Falcons while KSU travels to Ohio to face the Bobcats.
>>> KSU head coach Rob Senderoff is 7-10 lifetime against Akron while UA head coach John Groce is 4-6 lifetime against the Golden Flashes
RSS Feed