Basketball season ends with overtime loss
Kent player, Jimmy Hall, dribbles around a Buffalo player during a game on Saturday Feb. 28, 2015. Kent State lost the game 71-65.
March 28, 2015
With 24 seconds left in the game, Kent State held a 73-70 lead over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (22-14, 13-5 Big Sky Conference).
Then, senior guard Devareaux Manley — who had a game-high 25 points — was stripped in the backcourt by Arizona junior forward Jordyn Martin and the Lumberjacks cut the lead to one.
With 17 seconds left, senior guard Kris Brewer drove to the basket for what seemed to be an easy layup. But after having his shot blocked by Arizona senior forward Len Springs, senior guard Quinton Upshur scored on a fast-break layup to give Northern Arizona a one-point lead.
With about two seconds left, Manley missed a three-point attempt, giving the Lumberjacks a 74-73 win in overtime. The loss knocked the Flashes out of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and ended their season.
“These guys fought to the bitter end,” said coach Rob Senderoff in a press release. “It didn’t go our way, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. We fought all the way back in regulation and this was certainly a game we could have won.”
The Flashes fought back from a 10-point deficit with about nine minutes to play, tying the game at 61 to send it into overtime.
After controlling the game for the majority of the extra period, the Flashes fell apart in the final 24 seconds.
Redshirt sophomore Jimmy Hall had another dominant game, scoring 16 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. Senior guard Derek Jackson added 18 points.
Sophomore guard Kris Yanku led the Lumberjacks with 19 points, and senior guard Aaseem Dixon and Martin added 16 and 15 respectively.
Kent State finishes the 2014-15 season with a 23-12 record and a 12-6 record in Mid-American Conference play.
“You have to be proud of these guys,” Senderoff said. “We won a share of the regular-season Mid-American Conference championship when nobody expected it. We won 23 games. We won 10 games on the road. At the end of the day, these guys had a great season. The effort was there.
“As a coach, you just want your guys to play hard night in and night out. I think we did that for the most part this year. I hope the fans appreciate that and are proud of this team.”
Contact Stephen Means II at [email protected].
