KENT, OHIO – The Kent State Golden Flashes used a 14-2 run early in the second half to take control of the contest and went on to defeat Ohio 87-72 Saturday afternoon at the MAC Center.
With the victory, Kent State (17-8, 7-5 MAC) ended . . .
“A great win for us and we needed to get back on track,” Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff said. “We have a lot of games ahead of us, but today was really big for us.”
Senior Troy Simons scored a career high 27 points to lead four KSU players in double figures. Simons went 7-of-11 from the three point arc and 8-of-12 from the field, along with two rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore Anthony Roberts added 21, going 8-of-10 from the field. Antonio Williams contributed 16 points and seven assists, while C.J. Williamson had 14 going 4-of-6 from the floor.
With the loss, Ohio (12-13, 4-8) saw its two-game winning streak come to an end. The Bobcats have now lost five of six games away from home in MAC play so far this season.
“That’s one of the most talented teams in the league” Bobcats head man Jeff Boals said. “The fact that they have five losses is surprising. They've got seniors and juniors. They had lost two games in a row . . . and had eight days off.”
Sophomore Jason Preston led the 'Cats with 20 points and 12 assists. It was his third double-double of the season and marked the 11th time Preston has reached double figuers in 11 conference outings.
Freshman Lunden McDay had 14 points. Sylvester Ogobonda provided 13 points and seven boards, while sophomore Ben Vanden Plas had 12 with five boards.
The game started out as a three-point barrage as a the first five baskets came from beyond the arc (three by KSU and two by Ohio).
Both teams exchanged the lead early, with KSU opening a four-point lead at the 5:35 mark on a three from the left arc by Simons who eclipsed his career high of 25 set earlier in January in a win over Toledo. In this game, he had 19 points in the first half going 6-of-8 from the floor (5-of-7 from beyond the arc)
Ohio took its final lead of the game 30-29 at the 4:50 mark on a three pointer from the left arc by Preston. He had 14 points and six assists in the opening half.
The Flashes then steadied the ship, opening a 42-38 lead at halftime.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first 20 minutes, with KSU going 14-of-26 (10-of-17 beyond the arc) from the field. Ohio was an even 50 percent (14-of-28). The Bobcats held a narrow 17-14 rebounding edge
Ohio started the second half on a 6-0 run to tie the game (44-44) 90 seconds into the period when McDay connected on a three from the right arc. McDay scored all 14 of his points in the second half
From that point on, the game turned Blue and Gold.
The run started with six straight free throws from Danny Pippen. Williams and Simons then hit a pair of threes.
Within four minutes, KSU had a 54-46 lead and seized control with10 unanswered points, making the score 64-50 with 11:32 remaining.
The lead was extended to 20 points, 78-58, when Roberts connected on a three from the left arc with 3:19 remaining and KSU went on to win by15. It was the Flashes sixth win in the last seven overall against the Bobcats
NOTES:
>> KSU shot 53.1 percent from the field (26-of-49) over the 40 minutes (17-of-31 from beyond the arc, while Ohio finished the contest 48.2 percent from the floor (27-of-56)
>> The Bobcats won the battle of the boards 30-27. Both teams had a surprising number of turnovers -- 18 for Ohio (resulting in 25 KSU points), while the Flashes registered 16 turnovers (leading to 13 Bobcats points).
>> One key stat in the game was free throw shooting 18-of-22 for the Flashes and the Bobcats were 10-of-17.
>> Both teams are back in action on Tuesday with KSU traveling to Eastern Michigan while Ohio heads to home to play Central Michigan.