Big day for the Flashes
Saturday was a big day for the Kent State sports teams as the Golden Flashes
collected big wins in men’s and women’s basketball, the wrestling
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team knocked off another ranked opponents and even the football team got in
on the action by claiming verbal commitments from two top prospects.
After spending the previous five games suspended from team activities, junior
guard Carlton Guyton showed exactly what the Golden Flashes missed
with him out of action. Guyton scored just six points in Saturday’s 69-66
win at Ohio, the Flashes first road win of the year, but it was his free throws
with 24 seconds left that were the difference in the game.
"Guyton is one of our best shooters, we have several guys who we trust
in that situation and he is certainly one of them,” head coach Geno
Ford said. “We were happy he was the one that was on the line. He stepped
up and showed some courage to knock them in.”
Junior Justin Greene led the Flashes with 18 points and senior Rodriquez Sherman added 13 points, including a steal and lay-up with just 10 seconds
left to play.
Kent State has held seven of the last eight teams to less than 70 points.
Ohio entered the game averaging a Mid-American Conference best 75.5 points
per game.
The Flashes return to action on Wednesday, when they travel to Buffalo.
Before the men’s team picked up a big road win, the Kent State women’s
team claimed a big victory in the MAC Center.
The Flashes extended their 14-game home winning streak, dating back to the
2009-10 season, and snapped Bowling Green’s 15-game win streak with a
44-43 thrilling victory over the Falcons.
Senior guard Jamilah Humes scored a game-high 16 points and also pulled down
a game leading nine rebounds while senior Taisja Jones contributed with 11
points.
"I'm proud of our team's effort today," said Kent State head coach
Bob Lindsay. "Especially on the defensive end of the floor. We gave ourselves
a chance to win by doing what we did on the defensive end."
Both teams played outstanding defense in the game’s closing minutes.
Stephanie Gibson’s field goal with just over three minutes left to play
gave the Flashes a 44-41 lead. Bowling Green’s Jen Uhl closed out the
scoring with a pair of free throws with 1:36 left in the game.
With the win, the Flashes move into first place in the MAC East. They host
Akron on Wednesday.
Kent State’s wrestling team continued its roll through a grueling schedule
with wins over No. 21 Purdue and Campbell University on Saturday at Ashland’s
Wendy’s Duals.
The Flashes split the 10 matches with Purdue, but bonus points from Matt
Cathell at 157 and Dustin Kilgore at 197 led to the 17-15 win.
Kilgore’s 13-3 major decision over Logan Brown, ranked as the ninth
best wrestler in the country, helped the Flashes to overcome a tough Boilermakers
squad.
“Dustin wrestled really well against another Top 10 guy today," Head
Coach Jim Andrassy said. "We could have wrestled better at a few weights
today, but Purdue's a tough team and we got the wins when we needed them."
After defeating Purdue, the Flashes absolutely throttled Campbell, winning
56-(-1), to record their first shutout of a Division I opponents since 2005.
Campbell actually lost a team point at 174 points when its wrestler was penalized
for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Flashes open the MAC portion of its schedule on Friday when they host
Northern Illinois.
Even Kent State’s football team got in on the big day Saturday when
it claimed verbal commitments from junior college linebacker C.J. Malauulu,
from Oceanside, Calif., and 3-star running back Trayion Durham from
Colerain High School in Cincinnati.
The Flashes and new head coach Darrell Hazell hosted about a dozen official
visitors over the weekend and already have received good news from two of their
most coveted prospects.
Stay tuned to KentSportsReport.com for more on the Golden Flashes.
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