Men's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker to Kent State, 62-58

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — Kent State's Randal Holt hit a three pointer from the top left of the arc to give the Golden Flashes a 59-58 lead with 23.5 seconds left and the Golden Flashes would added three free throws to hand the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team a 62-58 loss here Wednesday, Feb. 8, evening in a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional game in the Convocation Center.

With the score knotted at 56-all, EMU sophomore guard J.R. Sims (Fort Wayne, Ind.-Snider), called on to replace senior guard Darrell Lampley (Linden, N.J.-Linden-Lakeland) who was injured on the previous play, connected on a jumper to put the Eagles up two, 58-56, with 48.7 left. That set up Holt's long three and sealed the game for the Golden Flashes.

Eastern, now 10-14 overall and 5-5 in MAC action, had three players in double figures with Lampley leading the way with 18 points while senior guard Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Dearborn Heights Robichaud) added 12 and junior forward Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid) chipped in 10.

Senior forward Justin Greene, the MAC Player of the Year in 2011, would lead Kent State with 17 points while senior guard Carlton Guyton added 11 and junior forward Chris Evans totaled 10. The win boosts Kent to 17-6 overall and 7-3 in league play.

Eastern would finish the game making 24-of-54 field-goal attempts for 44.4 percent and the Green and White would connect on 6-of-12 three-point field goals. Kent made 22-of-47 attempts for 46.8 percent from the field and 5-of-18 from beyond the arc for 27.8 percent. The Eagles held a 30-29 rebound edge.

Eastern opened the game with an offensive flurry, racing to a 14-5 lead in the game's first six minutes.

The visitors would slowly slip back into the game, pulling within one, 20-19, on a Green layup with 7:01 left.

After Eastern built its lead back to five, 29-24, on a triple by Quintin Dailey (Las Vegas, Nev.-Sheridan J.C.) at the 4:42 mark, the Golden Flashes would get a layup by Green and Guyton's second straight three-point goal to force a 29-all tie with 3:29 remaining.

The two teams would then trade baskets through the final minutes and Kent would score the final three points of the half to take a 32-31.

Eastern would finish the first half shooting 46.2 percent from the field, making 12-of-26 attempts and 4-of-8 three-point goals while Kent was making 12-of-20 field-goal attempts for 60 percent. The Golden Flashes would also make 3-of-9 triples. Eastern managed a 12-11 advantage on the boards in the first 20 minutes.

Kent ran off the first five points of the second half to take a 34-31 lead, but the Eagles answered that challenge, out-scoring the Flashes, 11-4, to go on top 42-38, with 15:44 left in the second half.

Eastern would keep that four-point lead at 44-40 with 13:52 left on a layup by junior center Matt Balkema (Warren, Mich.-Cousino), but the visitors woul then go on an 8-2 run to grab a 50-46 lead at the 9:47 mark, the last two on a jumper by Eric Gaines.

The home squad would once again find an answer, this time, first on a tip by Balkema and then a triple by Green to tie the game at 54-54 with 5:15 left.

The Eagles will now return home to the Convocation Center Saturday, Feb. 11, to host Ohio in the annual EMU Athletic Hall of Fame Game. The tip is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

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Team Stats

Darrell Lampley

Antonio Green

Jamell Harris

Quintin Dailey

Eastern Michigan Athletics