After a remarkable run as the No. 8 seed in the Mid-American Conference tournament, Kent State could not win the championship game, losing to Akron, 62-61.
“What a horrible, tough way to lose; I feel really bad for our whole roster,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “But also have a tremendous amount of pride in the fact that over these last three days, we really came together as a group.”
The Zips (24-10) won their second title in three years, while the Flashes (17-17) reached three consecutive title games, winning last year.
In this year’s matchup, Kent State was down 59-52 with 3:31 left to play. The Flashes, however, responded after a timeout, going on a 7-0 run capped off by a converted and-one by sophomore guard Julius Rollins to tie the game 59-59 with 1:47 remaining.
Akron then split a pair of free throws to lead 60-59 before giving Kent State the ball back.
The Flashes possession started with junior guard Jalen Sullinger driving by his defender and putting up a missed floater.
Junior center Cli’Ron Hornbeak was there for the putback, giving Kent State a 61-60 lead with 6.2 seconds remaining.
The Zips then quickly inbounded to their senior guard Greg Tribble while Rollins intentionally fouled him despite the Flashes lead.
When asked if Rollins lost track of the score at the time, Senderoff said, “I gotta assume so. He probably thought we were down one instead of up one.”
Tribble went on to make both free throws to give Akron a 62-61 advantage with 4.8 seconds left.
Kent State had one last attempt where Sullinger attempted a tightly contested runner that missed, sealing Akron’s trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m just proud of how hard we fought,” senior guard Giovanni Santiago said. “We came together with one goal, and we were playing for each other. That is the most proud I can be of this team.”
Junior forward VonCameron Davis led the Flashes with 21 points, while Sullinger scored 19 and had eight rebounds.
Both Davis and Sullinger were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team.
In regard to how the team can look forward with four starters returning, Davis said, “It just gives us even more experience, just giving us more fuel to the fire just to come back ready for next year.”
Matt Franos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected]
