 CLEVELAND STATE 57, KENT STATE 53 In reality, the game lived down to its billing as the visitors from the Horizon League took an early lead and never looked back as they registered a 57-53 win before a raucous, sellout crowd of 6,327 at the MAC Center.
Senior guard Jeremy Montgomery scored 13 points and senior D’Aundray Brown added 11 as Cleveland State (4-0) picked up its third consecutive win over Kent State (2-1), and fourth in the last five meetings, winning in Kent for the first time since December, 1997.
“It was a hard fought game, but a tougher battle than it should have been.” CSU Head Coach Gary Waters said after the game. “We turned the ball over 20 times, and that led to a game that should not have been that close.”
Waters, who coached at KSU from 1996-2001 with a 92-60 record and helped lead the Flashes to the NCAA Tournament twice, has a 5-1 record against his former school.
“I made this a big game.” first-year KSU head man Rob Senderoff said afterward. “This one is on me. Why they (the players) came out anxious is on me. I thought out kids were ready for a big game; our kids clearly did not play the way we were capable of.”
Freshman Chris Evans came off the bench to lead all scorers in the game with 14 points and eight rebounds, while senior forward Justin Greene, the reigning MAC Player of the Year, added 13 and seven boards.
Coming into the game, CSU had wins at Vanderbilt, a pre-season No. 5, and at home against Saint Bonaventure of the Atlantic 10. In addition, they had been garnering votes in both national polls and entered this week on the cusp of making it into the Top 25. They were third in the most recent mid-majors poll.
Cleveland State started the game by scoring the game’s first six points and opened at 14-2 lead at the 16:18 mark on a right-win jumper by Brown. In two of its three victories so far this season, CSU has never trailed, and the Vikings would not in this battle.
KSU closed the gap to 19-12 at the 8:24 mark on a pair of free throws by Greene before the Vikings used an 11-3 spurt to open their largest lead of the game, 28-15, at the 2:29 mark on a three-pointer from the right corner by Montgomery. The senior guard scored 11 points in the first 20 minutes hitting three-for-six from beyond the arc.
The Flashes closed to 30-21 at halftime thanks to a layup and a pair of free throws by Greene and a jumper by junior guard Randal Holt.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the first half. CSU held the lead despite hitting just 39 percent from the field (12-for-31), while KSU managed to connect on just 7-for-24 from the field (29.2%). The Flashes had a decisive rebounding edge 23-15 but turned the ball over 13 times resulting in 18 Vikings points.
“We really lost the game in the first half,” said Greene. He led he Flashes with six points at intermission but four of those came from the free throw line and his first field goal did not fall until the 1:21 mark of the half.
At the start of the second half, Cleveland State’s lead fluctuated between five and nine points. Then after a turnaround jumper by Greene at the 11:23 mark that closed the deficit back to five at 38-33, the Vikings scored six unanswered points to take their largest lead of the second half 44-33 with 8:59 remaining on a foul line jumper by senior Aaron Pogue, who scored nine points in the game, seven in the second half.
Kent State would not go away using a 7-0 run to whittle the margin down to four, 44-40, with 5:32 remaining on a layup by Greene. That would be the closest the Flashes would come for the remainder of the game.
In a key moment in the contest, KSU had a chance to come even closer to the Vikings,. However, a missed three-pointer by Carlton Guyton and the rebound by Pogue sent Cleveland State back the other way.
Brown got the ball and hit a three-pointer from the right arc to bring the lead back to seven, 47-40, with 4:03 remaining. He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw.
From that point on, CSU scored eight of its final 10 points from the free throw line, extending the lead out to nine. A jumper by Guyton and layup by Greene closed the final gap.
“I take the blame for this loss.” senior guard Michael Porrini said. “I never got into a rhythm. I just didn’t get it started. If I had gotten on a roll, things could have been different.”
Porrini scored just two points in the game (going 1-for-7 from the floor) with six rebounds, three assists and three turnovers. In addition, he fouled Brown while making the three-pointer that gave CSU a bit of a cushion and blunted KSU’s momentum.
Kent State shot the ball better in the second half, connecting on 12-of-30 but the Flashes were just 1-for-9 from beyond the arc and that goal came at the end of the game by Guyton. They won the rebounding battle overall, 42-37,, but shot just 35.2% for the game (19-fo-54) and turned the ball over 22 times, resulting in 24 Cleveland State points.
The visitors from the Horizon League did not do that much better as they finished the contest shooting 35.1% from the floor (20-for-57). They, too, turned the ball over 20 times resulting in 23 Kent State points.
The Vikings won the game despite their leading scorer, senior guard Trey Harmon, being shut out, failing on all nine shots he took (four from beyond the arc).
“I expected us to handle the pressure and play better – and we didn’t” Senderoff said.
Kent State goes back to action on Monday December 1st when the Rajun Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette out of the Sun Belt Conference come to the MAC Center.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
KEY MOMENT: With Kent State behind 44-40 in the second half. Cleveland State’s D’Aundray Brown connected on a three-pointer from right arc to push the lead back to seven at 47-40.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: JEREMY MONTGOMERY-CLEVELAND STATE. The senior from Chicago led the Vikings with 13 points and his three three-pointers in the first half got CSU going and they never looked back.
KEY STAT OF THE GAME: The two teams combined for 42 turnovers (22 KSU – 20 CSU). They resulted in a combined 47 points (24 CSU – 23 KSU).
NOTES
The game was the 45th lifetime meeting (KSU 26-19) the first meeting was in 1933 when Cleveland State was still Fenn College…23rd lifetime game at Kent (15-8 KSU)…The sellout crowd of 6,237 was KSU’s largest non-conference crowd at home since December,1971 vs. Purdue (7,456)…KSU is 61-46 lifetime against the Horizon League…Justin Greene-KSU has scored in double digits in 13 of his last 14 games….Michael Porrini-KSU his two points tied for the third lowest in his career (one twice last season vs Iona & at Florida)…Justin Greene-KSU his 13 points gives him 1,139 career points 17th on the Flashes all-time list…Horizon League is 3-1 against the MAC so far this season
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