The players on the Kent State men’s basketball team started their spring break with a trip to the National Invitation Tournament and ended it with a completed season.

The No .7 Flashes (25-12, 12-4 Mid-American Conference) upset their opponents in the first two rounds but failed to make it to the semifinals.

They started their NIT run against No. 2 St. Mary’s, flying to California the morning after the tournament’s officials announced the matchup.

The seesaw battle on March 15 started with the Flashes winning then moved to the Gaels taking over and ended with a movie-worthy finale.

With 24.9 seconds on the clock, junior guard Michael Porrini — who led with 19 points that night — scored to bring the Flashes behind just 70-69.

Junior forward Justin Greene scored the winning basket with 2.4 seconds on the clock in what he called “probably one of the biggest wins in my career.”

That confidence spilled over to the second round game March 20 against No. 6 Fairfield.

The evenly matched teams tied the score at 35-35 at the half.

Meanwhile, Fairfield’s double-team defense tied up Greene, letting him score just eight points in the game.

But sophomore guard Randal Holt stepped up offensively, scoring 22 points and prompting late-game runs that brought the Flashes above the Stags 72-68.

Holt said the team’s desire to prolong its season as long as possible served as motivation to advance the Flashes further into the tournament.

Kent State coach Geno Ford said after almost four months of basketball, most players are ready for the season to be over, so an excited team this late in the season was refreshing.

“As a coach, you don’t get that,” Ford said. “These guys gave it their all.”

But their all was not enough to overcome No. 1 Colorado on March 22 as the Flashes fell 81-74, ending their season and their time in the NIT.

While Ford said Colorado should have played in the NCAA Tournament, he admitted their home crowd could have factored into the loss.

“If it was a neutral court game, maybe we could have pulled it out,” Ford said. “On the road, we just weren’t quite good enough to get it done.”

The Flashes were up 67-66 with 5:30, but Colorado made strong runs in the final minutes to pull ahead for the lead.

Ford said it was disappointing to see Kent State — who prides itself on winning games in the stretch — to be on the other end of the situation.

Greene led with 20 points and said while it was disappointing the team could not get to the Final Four in New York for its lone senior, Rod Sherman, he is looking forward to reassembling the troops next season and trying to get a bit further.

Since the team started with 10 new players this season, a similar team will be returning next year.

“Without question this is the toughest group that I have been a part of,” Ford said.  “We have had a lot of teams that have shown a lot of toughness and a lot of character but this one has handled losing and adversity in terms of not playing well and traveling.  They just keep playing, and they really like to play.”

Contact Rachel Jones at [email protected].