Miami (OH) (25-8, 14-4) comes out on top of a monumental battle between heavyweights in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament semifinal over Kent State (22-11, 11-7 ) by a score of 72-64 setting up a sibling battle in Saturday’s final between Miami head coach Travis Steele and Akron head coach John Groce, who happen to be half-brothers.
“We are going to win it,” Steele said. “That is the goal and all I’ve done up until this point has built towards this moment. So again, the job’s not finished and we know we’ve got a very formidable opponent in Akron who is a tremendous team.”
Senior guard Jalen Sullinger excelled for the Golden Flashes, scoring 29 points on top of five rebounds while All-MAC First Team member Peter Suder led the scoring for the RedHawks, scoring 23 points and earning 11 rebounds and four assists.
Miami will be looking to achieve their first MAC Tournament in 18 years dating back to a 2007 MAC title game that was a rematch of Saturday night’s MAC title game, with the RedHawks beating Akron 53-52.
Sullinger opened up the scoring on the night just as the clock struck eight with a three-pointer on the west side of the Rocket Arena court. Sullinger followed it up with another shot of the same value from the other side of the key, setting the tone for an offensively explosive first half from both sides.
“He’s a tremendous player,” Steele said about Sullinger postgame. “We tried to switch over to have Pete on him late in the game, tried to put a little more size on him to impact his vision because he has unlimited range as we all know.”
An even first-half matchup saw Sullinger and Suder dueling for rights as the leader of their respective clubs, with the Golden Flash earning 16 points and the RedHawk earning 13 as the score stood at 33-32 at halftime.
The second half started off with a bang, as back-to-back three-pointers by RedHawk guard Kam Craft gave his squad a five-point lead before Kent State tied it back up with 13 minutes left.
The two teams continued to exchange blows as the second half past the second half mark with a streak of five straight possessions ended by a tough layup that was fouled by a RedHawk foul in Delrecco Gillespie’s sixth point of the game.
A layup from Kent State forward VonCameron Davis and a tough make by senior guard Marquis Barnett gave the Flashes the lead as Barnet flexed in front of the extensive Kent State faithful on the east side of the Arena.
Coming out of the final media timeout, Craft drained a clutch three from the east corner, giving Miami a 63-60 lead with just under three minutes left. After Kent State narrowed the lead to one, Craft nailed yet another three with nearly a minute left, causing the RedHawk crowd to erupt in applause.
“I only took two shots in the first half. I just didn’t lose confidence, Craft said. “I knew I was going to get hot, and it just happened at the right time. All my teammates, coaches, they instilled confidence in me.”
The RedHawks secured the victory late after two clutch free throws from sophomore center Reece Potter by a final score of 72-64, giving head coach Travis Steele a rematch of the 2024 MAC Tournament First Round against his brother Groce in the 2025 MAC Tournament Championship on Saturday, March 15 with tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
