The Kent State men’s basketball team coasted to a 27-point blowout victory over Robert Morris in its first exhibition game of the season Sunday.

The Flashes started off slow in the first half and didn’t fully get going offensively until the last seven minutes. Robert Morris jumped out to a 14-11 lead after hitting two 3-pointers, but the Flashes responded quickly with a 10-3 run to go up, 21-17. The Flashes’ offense woke up in the last minutes of the first half, taking a 37-28 lead with all of the momentum going into the half.

The Flashes were 11-for-27 on field goals in the first half and held the Colonials to a 10-for-29 half.

“We played well in both halves; we just didn’t score well in the first half,” Kent State coach Rob Senderoff said. “This is October; we will improve everyday. We rebounded really well tonight, and we need to be able to defend this well every night if we want to be good. This team is smaller than most teams I’ve had and we were missing a few players today, but if we play decent collectively, we have a chance to be good.”

The second half was a different story, as the Flashes went on a 15-2 run over five minutes to go up, 52-30. Kent State bumped its lead up to as high as 30. In total, the Flashes put up 52 points in the half, taking home a 89-62 win in the hurricane relief exhibition.

Kent State featured five players in double figures, with senior Jalen Avery and junior Antonio Williams scoring 16 points each. The Flashes finished the game going 30-for-61 shooting with their offense clicking in the second half. Seven new players touched the floor as they made their debuts for the Flashes.

The Flashes’ first regular season game will be Nov. 10 as they take on Cleveland State at 7 p.m. in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

Sean Blevins is a sports reporter. Contact him at [email protected].