Redshirt junior guard Sincere Carry put the ball in his hands and drove to the lane, drawing an and-one foul with 25 seconds left in the game. Carry sank the foul shot to give the Flashes a two point lead.

Then graduate student guard Andrew Garcia came up with a huge block with three seconds left to secure the 73-71 victory for the Flashes over Central Michigan. 

It is KSU’s 10th straight win.

Kent State improves to 19-9 on the season and 14-4 in the Mid-American Conference. It is tied for second place in the MAC with Ohio, and it one game behind Toledo (23-6 overall, 15-3 MAC). CMU (7-20, 6-10) is in seventh.

“Obviously tonight, a great win for us,” head coach Rob Senderoff said. “A lot of things didn’t go our way throughout the course of the game, down seven with five minutes to go, and finding a way to win on the road.”

Kent State had first half offensive struggles yet again, shooting 34 percent (11-32) and 15 percent (2-13) from three point range. 

However, the Flashes defense forced seven turnovers with four steals to keep the game close, and they only trailed 31-30 at the half. 

KSU also rebounded the ball well, out rebounding Central Michigan 23-18, scoring 13 second chance points. 

A lot of the same continued in the second half. 

The Flashes struggled again with the three point shots, shooting 21 percent (3-14) in the second half. 

“Give them a ton of credit,” Senderoff said. “Their team plays hard, they get length, and they make it tough for you to get good looks, and we struggled in the two games against them, but tonight we found a way to make enough plays.”

The Flashes were, however, very successful in the rebounding category yet again, out rebounding Central Michigan 23-15 in the second half. 

“Across the board, did a good job getting offensive rebounds,” Senderoff said. “Finding away to win under some difficult circumstances.”

The Flashes were able to do this without the teams second-best rebounder, redshirt senior Justyn Hamilton, who is dealing with a groin injury.

The team’s leading rebounder, redshirt junior guard Malique Jacobs was ejected with 9:54 left to play after receiving his second technical foul. 

Despite the setbacks, Garcia stepped up to score a career high 21 points with 10 rebounds and a block to complete a double-double. Redshirt senior forward Tervell Beck also stepped up getting seven boards. 

“Big time game for [Garcia],” Senderoff said. “Unbelievable game, and we needed it, and he had a huge blocked shot to save the game, so just a great performance by him.” 

The numerous rebounds allowed Kent State to score 12 second chance points. 

Carry finished with the second-most points, scoring 20 points, seven rebounds, an assist and three steals. 

The team will look to continue the win streak and the fight for the MAC regular season title when the Flashes travel to take on Northern Illinois (8-20, 5-13), which is in a three-team tie for ninth, on Tuesday at 7 p.m. 

Jacob Hansen is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].