Kent State comes back to beat Wright State 72-71

With ten seconds to go, junior forward Danny Pippen hit a corner three.

After being down by 16 points early, the three completed a 72-71 comeback win against Wright State.

Senior guard Antonio Williams found Pippen in the corner after driving hard to the basket.

“It was a great find by Williams,” Pippen said. “He did a great job on the baseline and then we went small in the final seconds, and our guards did a great job of defending.”

That assist was one of Williams’ seven to go with his 18 points, both team highs.

Wright State came out hot and took a lead early but the Flashes locked down on defense and started closing the gap.

“The second half defense was off the charts,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “A lot went against us, but we found a way to get a win against a good team.”

Kent State did overcome 17 turnovers and poor shooting early, including from leading three point shooter senior guard Troy Simons.

Simons started shooting 2-7 from three, but got hot late and hit two crucial three-pointers to put the Flashes within striking distance.

He had 16 points as well as leading the team with 11 rebounds.

Also hitting an important late shot was senior forward Philip Whittington, who made a layup between the Simons three-pointers.

Whittington had 10 points on five-of-six shootings and 10 rebounds.

Kent State remains undefeated at 3-0 and is at home Tuesday against Purdue Fort Wayne.

Contact Owen MacMillan at [email protected]