By David Carducci
Record-Courier staff writer
ATHENS -- Cut 10 minutes out of Saturday's road trip to Ohio University, and Kent State actually resembled a team that can make another run at a Mid-American Conference championship.
In those 30 other minutes, the Golden Flashes played harder than they had all season long. They defended. They worked their offense and found open shots. They didn't make a high percentage of those open shots, but they looked like a team finding its way through the haze.
But when they lost their way for 10 sloppy minutes in the second half, Kent State gave Ohio just the window it needed to breeze by for a 71-65 win Sunday at the Convocation Center in the MAC opener for both clubs.
"I don't think we can play any harder," said Kent State coach Geno Ford, a former star player and assistant coach at Ohio University. "We just had a stretch in that second half -- and this only seems to happen on the road with us -- where we took some really, really bad, quick shots. Then on the other end, we couldn't get a stop."
The Bobcats (8-6, 1-0 MAC) used a 15-5 run early in the second half to turn a 35-32 deficit into a 47-40 lead.
During that stretch, KSU's Al Fisher and Mike McKee fired up airballs early in the shot clock on back-to-back possessions. Tyree Evans continued the poor shot selection with a quick trigger on a 3-pointer that missed badly.
With Ohio guard Tommy Freeman catching fire from 3-point range on the other end, the game turned for good.
"We have to know better," said Fisher. "We can't take those quick shots like that. We are out there on defense working hard for 20 or 30 seconds. Then we come down, take a quick shot, miss, and have to get back and work hard on defense for another 20 or 30 seconds. We end up not making them work at all. When we ran our offense, we got good shots."
The Flashes (7-8, 0-1) settled down in time to make a late run. They trailed by 10 with 4:22 to play, but cut the Bobcats' lead down to just two points, 67-65, with 34 seconds left on an offensive rebound and put-back by Chris Singletary with 34 seconds on the clock.
It could have been even closer. Singletary was fouled on the play, but he failed to take advantage of the opportunity, missing the third of his three free-throw attempts on the night.
"(Free throws) have been a problem for us all year long," said Ford.
The Flashes' team free-throw percentage dropped to a MAC-low 59.7 percent with their 6-for-11 performance Sunday. The Bobcats, meanwhile, kept KSU off their heels by going 12-for-12 from the foul line in the final five minutes.
Ohio star Jerome Tillman hit six of those foul shots on his way to a 16-point, nine-rebound day.
"He was possessed in the second half," said Bobcats coach John Groce.
Freeman fired in a team-high 18 points, hitting four 3-pointers " three as he found the hot hand in the second half.
"When he is open, I expect him to shoot it," said Groce. "That's his job."
Evans led all scorers with 21 points, but the best news of the night for KSU may have been Fisher's 19-point effort. The struggling MAC Player of the Year authored his best game in more than a month.
"The guys on the team have been telling me they need me to get out of my shell," said Fisher. "They keep saying, "We need you.' I'm trying to take on the role I need to play as a senior. I'm trying to be more of a leader. I'm feeling better. I'm getting better shots for me and I'm trying to get good shots for my teammates.
"We know we are a better team than we've been so far this season. We are better than a 7-8 team, and I think we are starting to come around."