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YPSILANTI, Mich. – Kent State (16-7; 7-2 MAC) picked up the 400th Mid-American Conference win in program history and earned its sixth straight victory in the process with a tough 75-68 win at Eastern Michigan (11-11; 3-6 MAC) Thursday.
The victory also gave the Golden Flashes their seventh away from home this season, surpassing the team’s total of six all of last season.
Anthony Simpson led Kent State scoring a career high 19 points while adding seven rebounds and four steals. The senior forward shot 3-4 from three, but his biggest one came with 3:07 remaining and Golden Flashes trying to withstand a late Eastern Michigan rally.
The Eagles had whittled a 15-point second half Kent State lead down to just seven points following two free throws from Carlos Medlock at 3:38. On the other end the Golden Flashes would work the shot clock down before senior Chris Singletary drove the lane and delivered a pin-point pass to a wide open Simpson in the corner.
Simpson, who also caught two alley-oops and had a breakaway dunk earlier in the game, buried the three to cap of his career night. Kent State improved to 9-0 this season when he scores in double figures.
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Kent State has now won 15 straight against MAC West foes
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“Anthony was fantastic tonight. He had one of those games where everything was working for him and he did a lot of things well, said Head Coach Geno Ford. “He did an unbelievable job and the three he hit in the corner down the stretch was a dagger.
While Simpson’s three turned the momentum back to the Golden Flashes, the Eagles would not completely go away until the final seconds. With the teams trading free throws the final 1:30, Eastern Michigan closed the gap to five with 28 seconds left on three straight free throws by Medlock, Sophomore Justin Greene answered with two of his own for Kent State as the Golden Flashes hit just enough from the foul line to secure the win.
Senior Tyree Evans and junior Rodriguez Sherman were also in double figures with 14 points each for KSU which shot 52.1 percent for the game, including a 65.0 percent (13-20) effort in the second half. The Golden Flashes entered the game as the MAC leader with 8.7 steals per game and added 12, giving them 30 in the last two games.
Kent State first began to pull away at the six minute mark of the first half. Tied at 18-18 Evans, senior Mike McKee (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) and Evans again connected on three straight three-pointers to kick off a 14-2 run that game the Golden Flashes a 32-20 lead at the break.
“That was a big stretch because the game was basically even the rest of the way,” said Ford of the hot streak from beyond the arc, “It really changed the game.”
With Sherman and Greene each scoring four points, the lead was pushed up to 15 (40-15) at the start of the second half. Medlock, who finished with a game high 22 points, would then hit back-to-back threes to cut the advantage down to nine (40-31) at the 14:43 mark as the Eagles continued to battle throughout.
KSU completes the two-game swing through Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 6 at Central Michigan. Game time is 7:00 pm. Eastern Michigan hosts Ohio Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
NOTES: Kent State has won 14 straight against Eastern Michigan, tying the longest active streak by one MAC team over another (Miami over Eastern Michigan) ... Kent State is 9-0 this season when Anthony Simpson scores in double figures ... KSU has won 15 straight over against the MAC West ... Kent State is 16-3 this season when scoring over 60 points.
Courtesy of Kent State Athletics |
