YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Cleveland State rallied from a 21 point first half deficit to force overtime, but fell to Kent State, 79-74 in the season opener on Saturday evening at the Beeghly Center. The game was the first of two games in the NE Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
STAT LEADERS
• Bobby Word led four Vikings in double figures with 17 points, including four three-pointers. Word was playing his first game in more than a year after sitting out last season when he transferred from Oral Roberts
• Jamarcus Hairston had 13 points, including a three-pointer from the corner with 2.6 seconds left that sent the game into overtime.
• Rob Edwards added 12 points, while Jibri Blount scored eight.
• Kasheem Thomas recorded 13 points, five rebounds and nine assists. He became the first CSU freshman to start the season opener since the 2003-04 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kent State raced out to a 20-5 lead and led 34-21 at the half as the Vikings were just 5-of-23 from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
• The lead was still 13 points (45-32) with 14:26 to play, but CSU slowly began to chip away at the deficit, pulling within one point (55-54) on a three-pointer from Word with 6:15 to play.
• Kent State scored the next five points to regain a six-point lead (60-54), but a Word three-pointer capped an 8-1 CSU run that gave the Vikings a 62-61 lead with just over three minutes to play.
• The Golden Flashes responded with five straight points to take a 66-62 lead with two minutes left and a Word free throw with 1:38 to play pulled the Vikings within one.
• The Vikings got two defensive stops and trailed by three when they called a timeout with 19 seconds left.
• Word missed a three-pointer with second seconds left, but Edwards grabbed the rebound and kicked it to Hairston in the corner right in front of the CSU bench where he nailed his third three-pointer of the game with 2.6 seconds left.
• In overtime, Kent State scored first and Hairston responded with two free throws to tie the game at 68-68. However, the Golden Flashes scored seven of the next eight points to take a 75-69 lead with 1:06 to play.
• Word answered with a three-pointer on the other end, but the Golden Flashes used four free throws over the final 30 seconds to seal the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• The Vikings shot .429 (21-49) for the game, including a 14-of-21 (.667) effort in the second half.
• CSU was 12-of-30 (.400) from three-point for the game.
• Jimmy Hall led Kent State with 19 points and 18 rebounds.
• Kent State held a 41-28 advantage on the glass and scored 25 second chance points.
UP NEXT
• The Vikings host Canisius on Tuesday (Nov. 15) in the 2016-17 home opener. It will be the first of four straight games for the Vikings in the Bluegrass Showcase.
