This Thursday night, Kent State (22-10, 11-7) defeated Western Michigan (12-20, 9-9) in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) tournament to advance to the semifinals.
The opening minutes of the first half were highly completive, with both teams tied 19-19 halfway through the first half. After several tough opening minutes, Kent State went on a 7-0 run, taking a lead of 26-19 heading into a media timeout.
Kent State finished the first half on a 15-3 run, heading into halftime up against Western Michigan 43-25. The Golden Flashes shot 54.8% (17/31) from the field, along with scoring 22 points off their bench.
The Broncos shooting in the first half grew worse as the half continued, finishing the half shooting 10/28 from the field and 1/14 from the three-point line.
Kent State’s Marquis Barnett led the Golden Flashes in scoring at halftime, scoring 18 points on 7/8 shooting from the field and 4/5 from three. Western Michigan’s Markhi Strickland led his team with 8 points respectively.
Western Michigan opened the second half with a 7-0 run, cutting the Kent State lead down to 43-32. Back-to-back threes by the Broncos once again cut the lead to six, Western Michigan trailing Kent State 49-43.
A corner three by Western Michigan’s Owen Lobsinger cut the lead to 55-53, the Broncos trailing by just two points over halfway through the second half.
Despite scoring 41 points in the second half, Western Michigan never overtook the Golden Flashes for the lead, falling in the quarterfinals to Kent State 73-66. With the win, Kent State advances to the semifinals of the MAC tournament.
The Golden Flashes shot 47.5% from the field in the win over the Golden Flashes. Barnett finished with 18 points on 7/13 shooting.
Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff spoke on how his team playing through tough games like this throughout the year prepared them for the MAC Tournament.
“Going through the adversity that the team has gone through different times during the season has gotten us to the point where we were able to withstand what we withstood tonight,” Senderoff said. “If this game were in January, we would have lost this game in my opinion.”
Kent State advances to the semifinals of the MAC tournament and will second-seeded Miami OH RedHawks this Friday evening.
Falcon Media Sports Network’s Artie Abrego and Kaden Knapp will be on the call for the matchup on Falcon Radio.
