Inside game leads Flashes to blowou

Watch video from the game.

The Kent State men’s basketball team dominated Rochester College’s big men in Flashes’ (4-1) 63-44 win over the Warriors (6-6) yesterday at the M.A.C. Center.

Still, Kent State coach Geno Ford didn’t like what he saw out of his post players in the first half. He said the forwards went into the game expecting to be able to physically control Rochester, which hurt them early.

“In the first half I was really disappointed with our post play, and we addressed that in halftime,” Ford said. “I thought they were much more physical in the second half and much stronger with the ball.”

Junior guard Rodriquez Sherman led Kent State in scoring on the night with 15 points.

Junior forward Anthony Simpson led the Flashes down low, which opened up opportunities for the team to score.

Simpson, who has transitioned into a bench player, said he feels he can bring more to the team coming off the bench.

“I feel a lot more comfortable coming off the bench than starting,” he said. “Now I can bring the team a spark coming off the bench.”

Simpson matched up well against the Warrior defenders, scoring 12 points while adding a team-leading 10 rebounds.

Helping Simpson in the post was sophomore forward Justin Greene, who has quickly transitioned into one of Kent State’s go-to big men. Greene had eight points with seven rebounds.

“We wanted to get (our post players) involved early,” senior guard Mike McKee said. “We had a pretty good size advantage on the inside, and we wanted to exploit that early. We got off to a slow start, but we stuck with it.”

Kent State kept Rochester from climbing back into the game with disciplined play on the defensive end. The Flashes committed 13 fouls, allowing the Warriors only seven free-throw attempts.

After Rochester brought the game within six points with 5:47 left in the game, the Flashes’ defense didn’t allow the Warriors to score another bucket.

Kent State then used a 13-0 run to end regulation, and a full squad of bench players took the floor in the last two minutes to close out the game.

Contact Cody Erbacher at [email protected].