Men’s basketball beats Ball State, 63-56

Chris Gates

The Kent State men’s basketball team beat Ball State 63-56 this afternoon in a game full of runs.

The Flashes (12-11, 5-4 Mid-American Conference) used a 19-0 run in the first half to earn a 25-9 lead with 8:56 remaining before halftime. As a team they shot 17-of-27 from the field, which fared well against Ball State’s inability to shoot consistently. The Cardinals shot just 7-of-22 in the first half.

“I thought we won it in the first half,” Kent State coach Geno Ford said.

Junior guard Chris Singletary was largely responsible for the first-half run, shooting 6-of-7 in the first half and scoring 12 points.

He continued to shoot well in the second half, which helped Kent State weather a 16-1 run by Ball State that closed the lead to 46-42 with 11:39 to play.

That was as close as Ball State would get.

Kent State extended the lead back to double-digits, forcing Ball State to foul and send the Flashes to the line repeatedly to close the game. Singletary added seven points in the second half to total 19 for the game.

“You could see before tipoff, (Chris) was focused,” senior forward Julian Sullinger said. “(He) wanted to do well.”

Contact principal sports reporter Chris Gates at [email protected].

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