The Kent State men’s basketball team erupted out of halftime with a 22-4 run to take down rival Akron 87-70.

Kent State started the second half tied with Akron, 35-35, and center Zeke Marshall started the scoring with a layup over sophomore Justin Greene. Then Greene made an and-1 shot over Marshall to start the scoring run.

In the first sell-out of the season, with 6,204 in attendance, the Flashes’ (12-7, 3-2 MAC) proved they were able to play with the best in the Mid-American Conference following a win against Buffalo on Wednesday and today’s victory against Akron (13-6, 3-2 MAC).

Leading the way for the Flashes was Greene, who recorded his third double-double of the season, with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

The Flashes went 30-of-58 (51.7 percent) from the field and 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) from behind the arc for the game. Kent State led by as many as 20 points in the win.

Although the game seemed to be dominated be offense, senior guard Chris Singletary said the team was focusing on improving its defense

“We did a great job today allowing our defense help our offense,” Singletary said. “Everybody was just focused on defense. That was the main thing.”

Kent State travels to face Toledo on Tuesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Contact sports reporter Cody Erbacher at [email protected]