by Kent, OH; It was the opening of MAC play at home as the Kent State Golden Flashes hosted the Northern Illinois Huskies. But to no surprise, it was the home team coming away with a 77-73 victory. It would not be easy though as it was a tale of two halves from both teams. “We’re 2-0 in the league and happy we won the game,” head coach Rob Senderoff said following the win. “But certainly disappointing and not happy with how we played in the second half.”
Delrecco Gillespie led the way 28 points, nine rebounds, two steals, and a block. Rob Whaley Jr. followed up with 18 points, one rebound, two assists, and two steals. While Quinn Woidke finished with 10 points, two rebounds, and two steals.
The Golden Flashes could not have asked for a better start to this game as they started off on a 10-2 run by time the first media timeout rolled around. It was quite the start from Whaley Jr. going 3-3 from the floor. The hot start continued as the defense held the Huskies to just 22% shooting opening it up to a 16-4 lead with 12:14 left in the half.
Northern Illinois would finally get going offensively as they responded with a 11-6 run out of the timeout cutting it down to a 22-15 deficit. The Huskies were trying their best to keep pace with a Kent State team who was shooting just 35% including 0-11 from three point range.
The Golden Flashes best continued to pour it on though. Whaley Jr. and Gillespie combined for 23 of the first 30 points offensively. It was a 30-17 lead powered by the two veterans.
In fact, the veterans weren’t done as they ended up combining for 32 of the 47 points scored in the first half. Gillespie was leading the way with 18 while Whaley Jr. had 14 himself. Kent State found themselves shooting 47% by time halftime rolled around as they held a 47-26 lead.
The Huskies would refuse to go away as they went on a shocking 13-0 run out of halftime forcing Senderoff to use one of his timeouts. The Golden Flashes still led 47-39, but it was all of a sudden a game again. “I saw they got chewed by their coach as he was going off the court and you just have to give the other team credit as well,” Senderoff said about allowing a second half comeback.
Northern Illinois would keep their momentum going with a 24-8 scoring run entirely and found themselves down just 50-45 with 11:15 left in the game. The Huskies were shooting a red hot 50% to start the second half while the defense forced six turnovers while holding Kent State to just 29% shooting themselves.
It was truly a shocking turn of events as Northern Illinois found themselves down just two at 66-64 with 3:20 left to play. They were shooting a hot 9-for-18 up to this point in the second half while holding the Golden Flashes to just 3-for-11 from the field. It’s safe to say it was all about the defense and bringing the pressure in the second half for the road team.
But Kent State was able to narrowly escape with a 77-73 win in the end starting off 1-0 at home in MAC play. It was a much needed victory for the Golden Flashes who had to battle through adversity improving to 11-3 on the season and are 2-0 now going up against the MAC. They next play the Bowling Green Falcons at home on Tuesday night.
