Recordpub.com - KSU gets back on winning track

By David Carducci

Record-Courier staff write

The sore knees, the broken noses and all of the sprained ligaments have Kent State head coach Geno Ford admitting his team is “tired and beat up.”

All of those ailments still weren’t enough to keep the Golden Flashes from gutting out a critical 74-67 win over Ohio University on Wednesday night at the M.A.C. Center.

“Everyone is physically tired and beat up at this time of the year,” said Ford, whose Flashes maintained a share of first place in the Mid-American Conference East Division with Akron thanks to the victory. “But this is also the time of year when you have to be mentally tough and find ways to win.

“We could have easily lost this game. In early January, we would have lost,” Ford said.

The Flashes of early 2010 are simply a tougher, more mature team than the Flashes of late 2009.

When Ohio built an eight-point lead after grabbing an offensive rebound on a missed free throw then kicking the ball out to guard D.J. Cooper for 3-pointer midway through the second half, a lesser team could have easily folded under the pressure.

Instead, the Flashes (19-8, 10-3) buckled down on defense and forced stop after stop.

The Flashes didn’t surrender a single point inside the paint in the second half. And in the final seven minutes, the Bobcats were met with blocked shots and rip-aways every time they tried to attack the rim.

Chris Singletary (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Justin Greene (15 points, 11 rebounds) scored just enough around the basket to keep the Flashes within striking distance. Then in the final minutes, a string of blocked shots and steals carried KSU to victory.

“We are down to the end of the season and all teams are tired,” said Singletary. “But the tougher team is going to win at the end. When you feel like you can’t go any more, you have to push your body and have teammates that will push you to the next level.”

Singletary, who has been struggling with a sprained knee for almost two weeks, had to leave the floor twice in the final 10 minutes when he cramped up. But after forcing down paper cup after paper cup of Gatorade on the bench, he found his way back to the floor and made some critical baskets.

Tyree Evans (broken nose and flu symptoms) and Rod Sherman (knee) were among KSU’s walking wounded, and they played like it for the better part of 36 minutes. The veteran backcourt mates were a combined 3-for-18 from the field with just four minutes to play, and they had a nightmare of a time guarding Ohio’s guard tandem of D.J. Cooper (23 points) and Armon Bassett (20 points).

But in the final four minutes, Evans and Sherman made the plays to push the Flashes ahead for good.

First, Evans expertly read the passing lane and came up with a steal that turned into a Mike McKee 3-pointer at the other end of the floor. McKee’s jumper put KSU ahead 61-59 with 3:53 to play.

“That was the shot that opened up the game,” said Ford.

A little more than a minute later, another name of KSU’s injured list — sixth man Anthony Simpson (thumb) — swatted away a drive by Bassett almost to halfcourt. Ohio’s Tommy Freeman caught the loose ball, but had his pass stolen by Sherman, who quickly passed the ball ahead to Evans for a breakaway layup.

The tide had officially turned.

And when Rod Sherman blocked a 3-pointer by Bassett in the left corner on the very next possession — and after biting on two fakes by the Ohio star — the win was just about sealed.

Sherman picked up the block, drove the length of the floor and drew a foul to set up the first two free throws of his 8-for-10 stretch at the foul line over the final 2:13.

“I was struggling, but I was waiting for a big play to get me going,” said Sherman, who was one of four KSU players to score in double figures, finishing with 11 despite his 1-for-6 shooting. “The steal after (Simpson’s) block was the play that got me going.”

With the win, Kent State extended its streak of seasons with at least 10 league wins to 12 in a row. So far, only Gonzaga and Kansas have managed to extend similar streaks.

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Contact David Carducci at dcarducci@recordpub.com