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**joepa66** · 02-27-2011, 10:50 AM

February 26, 2011
Kent State Rally Comes Up Short In 88-87 Overtime Loss To Ohio
Golden Flashes overcome 21-point second half deficit

KENT, Ohio � Kent State trailed by as many as 21 in the second half, then held a five-point lead in overtime, but was unable to come away with a win as Ohio escaped the M.A.C. Center with an 88-87 overtime win on Saturday night. With the loss, the Golden Flashes (19-10; 10-4) fall back into a tie for first in the Mid-American Conference East Division with Miami which defeated Bowling Green 84-77 earlier in the day.

Kent State's hero the past two games junior guard Michael Porrini (Massillon, Ohio/Gulf Coast C.C. [Fla.]) extended the lead in overtime to 82-77 with a three from the left wing on the second possession of the period for the Golden Flashes. The lead was still at five with three minutes remaining when Ohio's Devon Washington stole an in bounds pass and scored to keep the Bobcats alive. Ohio (16-13; 8-6) eventually claimed a one-point cushion on a three-point play with 1:25 on the clock.

Junior forward Justin Greene (Brooklyn, N.Y./Lincoln), who posted his ninth double-double of the season (19 points - 15 rebounds), would even the score for Kent State making one of two free throws, but the Golden Flashes made just 3-6 from the foul line in the extra period and it would come back to haunt them. After securing a long rebound, freshmen Eric Gaines (Chicago, Ill./Hillcrest H.S.) was fouled on a fast break with 42 ticks left to go and also made one of two for a one-point 87-86 lead. On the other end, Washington, who led Ohio with 20 points, drove and scored what proved to be the game-winning lay-up in the paint with 15 seconds remaining. The Golden Flashes held one last chance to secure the win, but an off-balanced jumper from Porrini was off the mark in the final seconds.

Playing for the fifth time in 10 days the Golden Flashes came out sluggish and struggled throughout the first half. Ohio scored the first eight points of the game before sophomore Randal Holt (Cleveland, Ohio/Bedford) finally put Kent State on the board with a three-pointer three minutes into the contest. It wasn't enough to jump start the offense however as the Golden Flashes shot just 25 percent (9-34) in the first period and fell behind by as many as 18 before going into the locker room down 42-28.

"I think the slow start is what really killed us," said senior guard Rodriquez Sherman (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) who racked up 19 of his game-high 21 points after halftime to lead Kent State in scoring, "We've been doing that the last couple of games, but have been able to overcome it. We've been preaching to each other about how we need to not let that happen or else it will bite us and it bit us today."

The deficit grew to 21 (56-35) at the 15:27 mark of the second half before Kent State finally came alive. The Golden Flashes used a 30-8 run over the next eight-plus minutes capped off by a breakaway dunk from Gaines to take their first lead of the game, 65-64 with 7:27 left in regulation. The game would go back and forth the next two minutes before Ohio worked its way to a four-point (74-70) lead with 3:37 left. Kent State clawed back once again and with 56 seconds still to play, tied the game on a Greene basket. The Golden Flashes then fended off two missed three-pointers by the Bobcat's D.J. Cooper (10 points - 14 assists) to force the extra session.

"We were really bad in the first half, but the positive is that we were still in position to win the game," said Head Coach Geno Ford. "We fought back to take the lead in regulation a couple of times so we were able to take a few positives out of the final fifteen minutes."

Along with Sherman and Greene, who's 15 rebounds equaled a career high, junior Carlton Guyton (Chicago, Ill. / Mineral Area C.C. [Mo.]) was also in double-figures with 18 points. Porrini scored eight points and had a career high nine assists.

The Golden Flashes travel to Bowling Green on Tuesday, March 1 for their final regular season road game of the year. The game can be seen live in HD on SportsTime Ohio starting at 7:30 p.m. Kent State then returns home to face Akron in the regular season finale on Friday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. Call 330-672-2244 for tickets

NOTES:
� The 14-point half-time deficit was the largest this season for Kent State
� Eric Gaines equal his career high with nine points
� Kent State had won 25 straight at home in the month of February. The last home loss in the month of February was February 19, 2005 vs Southern Illinois (65-54)
� The loss also ended a streak of 13 straight home wins against conference opponents
� Kent State had not lost at home to Ohio since the 2001 season (nine straight wins)
� The Golden Flashes are 1-2 in overtime this year
� The 88 points are the most given up this season and the most since an 89-84 overtime loss to Western Carolina on Dec. 6, 2008.

**joepa66** · 02-27-2011, 10:58 AM

The Flashes played with so much energy late in the game, it's hard to believe they were the same team who started the game. I've never seen them play such great defense and with such urgency on offense. However, in the end, it was their ability to convert free throws - 19-29 for
65.5%, and a major turnover that cost them the game. Leading by 5 and ready to place a nail in the coffin, a return pass to the inbounder against the press, was thrown directly to an OU player who made a reverse dunk to thwart Kent's momentum......Kent did not score on the next possession taking a poor shot, and the result was a triple by the Bobcats and effectively a 7-8pt advantage was negated and they were tied.....a 7-8 pt. swing on two possessions!

**Nicky Santoro** · 02-27-2011, 12:33 PM

, good game anyhow. To bad you didn't get to see a win.

GL today Joe.

**joepa66** · 02-27-2011, 09:22 PM

JOEPA'S UPDATED YTD: 424 - 354 - 24
UNITS: +18.00
MAC: 79 - 48 - 7
Halfs: 27 - 19 - 1
2/27: 2 - 3
SCRF: 50 - 52 - 2 (0-1)

OVEN MITT YTD: 39 - 39
2/27: 1 - 0

The Mitt is on a 3-0 win streak!

GL to ya!

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