Recordpub.com - Golden Flashes to assist Foodbank at Sunday's doubleheader games

By David Carducci

Record-Courier staff writer

Kent State has always tried to help its fan base by making tickets affordable while the economy is struggling.

This holiday season, the KSU athletic department is teaming with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to make it easier for fans to enjoy a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader Saturday and the M.A.C. Center, while at the same time helping to feed the hungry in Northeast Ohio.

All fans who bring a non-perishable food item can purchase a $5 ticket good for admission on Saturday to both the Golden Flashes’ 5 p.m. women’s basketball game against UNC Wilmington and the 7:30 p.m. men’s basketball game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“We are trying to assist our neighbors and our fans during these tough economic times,” said KSU associate athletic director Pete Mahoney. “The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank is a great cause with all of the wonderful things they do for the people in the surrounding communities.”

The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank was formed in 1982 by a group of community leaders who made a commitment to provide emergency food to neighbors in need. Today the Foodbank serves more than 400 community organizations, called Member Agencies, in eight Northeast Ohio Counties: Carroll, Holmes, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas and Wayne. These Member Agencies operate food pantries, hot meal sites, shelters and other hunger-relief programs in the neighborhoods and communities where people need food.

Fans will also benefit from lower prices at the concession stands on Sunday. All hot dogs and all sodas will cost just one dollar each.

For Southeast High School fans, the ticket offer will make it easier to cheer on one of their own as former Pirates star Mya Levels returns to Portage County.

Levels, who was a Third Team All-Ohio selection after averaging a triple-double during her senior season at Southeast, is averaging 2.2 points in 11.8 minutes per game in her freshman season at UNC Wilmington.

For KSU fans, showing up to Sunday’s doubleheader and giving the Flashes a home-court advantage can help both the men’s and women’s teams get back on track. Both teams have lost two games in a row.

The meeting with UNC Wilmington wraps up a run of five consecutive games at home for the KSU women. Bob Lindsay’s team beat Rhode Island and Cleveland State to open the homestand, but followed a loss to Wichita State on Dec. 8 with a 68-63 defeat at the hands of Temple on Saturday.

Sunday’s nightcap with Texas A&M Corpus Christi marks the only opportunity for KSU fans to see the Flashes’ men play at home during the month of December.

Geno Ford’s squad completed a stretch of four games on the road with tough losses at Xavier (Dec. 4) and Pittsburgh (Saturday).

After hosting the Islanders, the Flashes (5-4) go back on the road at Robert Morris (Dec. 22) and at the Cable Car Classic in California where they will play Wofford (Dec. 29) and either Northeastern or Santa Clara (Dec. 30). They don’t return home again until they wrap up the non-conference schedule with a Jan. 4 game against Norfolk State.

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David Carducci can be contacted at dcarducci@recordpub.com