Kent: Give the men’s teams from the University of Akron and Kent State University credit.
They sure know how to throw a party.
On the 100-year anniversary of the teams’ first meeting before a sellout crowd of 6,327 at the M.A.C. Center, they delivered an entertaining game complete with an improbable comeback and a couple of standout performances on each side.
But it was the Golden Flashes (18-9, 9-5 in the Mid-American Conference) claiming an 85-76 win in a game Kent State coach Rob Senderoff didn’t think would mean much.
For all practical purposes, the fun began with 7:06 to play, when UA’s Kwan Cheatham Jr. buried a 3-pointer to tie the game at 61, erasing Kent State’s lead that once was 15 points. A 28-13 run by the Zips took care of that.
UA (21-6, 10-4) had willed itself back to life but — just as quickly — the Flashes erupted on a 12-1 run and took a 73-62 lead with 3:06 left in the game, effectively ending the suspense.
Zips center Isaiah Johnson led all scorers with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Cheatham added 17 points and five rebounds.
Kent State center Khaliq Spicer delivered 22 points and eight rebounds and Kellon Thomas, who proved nearly impossible to stop in the first half, matched his team-best scoring effort.
With both teams undermanned, the Flashes simply outplayed the Zips. Kent State played without two key guards, while several Zips played with assorted bumps and bruises and UA center Pat Forsythe sat out with an injury.
Forsythe’s absence proved to be telling. Without him protecting the middle, the Flashes found shots at or near the rim easier and outscored the Zips 48-34 in the paint.
“I’m not going to make excuses,” UA coach Keith Dambrot said. “We’ve won with guys out.”
But he certainly wasn’t happy about the team’s defense in that area.
“The disappointment to me is they never shot a ball outside of 3 feet in the second half,” he said.
UA’s interior defense has remained inconsistent throughout the season, and the Flashes, who Senderoff said are predicated on scoring inside, took advantage of it.
“We have strong guards who can drive to the basket,” Senderoff said. “That’s our mentality.”
Thomas agreed.
“I tried to attack when I could,” he said. “I don’t think they can guard us on the perimeter.”
Conversely, Kent State went aggressively after UA’s strength — 3-point shooting — and limited the Zips to 10-of-33 shooting (30 percent) from behind arc. The 10 3-pointers were below the team’s season average of 11.7, which is fourth in the country, and several of them came when the game was slipping away.
“Certainly our perimeter guys were locked in on that,” Senderoff said. “We did everything we could to make it difficult for them to get a good look.”
Thomas said the Flashes paid particular attention to perimeter defense in the last couple of practices.
And that worked, said Dambrot, who gave credit to the Flashes for their effort, but acknowledged that his team had an off night.
“They did a good job of pressing passing lanes,” Dambrot said. “We’re not going to shoot 10-of-33 [from 3] most nights.”
George M. Thomas can be reached at gmthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Zips blog at www.ohio.com/zips. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeorgeThomasABJ.