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The Kent State Golden Flashes lost a heartbreaker to Northeastern 73-70 on Sunday afternoon. The Flashes started fast in the first half after being tied up at 12 at the 12:17 mark they finished the first half on a 30-13 run. This was keyed by several contributors but most notably Jimmy Hall having six points in the run while also being active on the glass.
The bad news for the Golden Flashes is that the second half was the complete opposite of the first half. They couldn’t make anything from the field and became very careless with the ball. They missed 17 shots in the second half and committed eight turnovers as Northeastern capitalized. Devon Begley provided the dagger to Kent State’s hopes with a corner three to give the Huskies the lead at 69-68. In the final two minutes the Golden Flashes were only able to muster a Hall free throw which led to their loss on Sunday afternoon.
The senior has been the heart and soul of Kent State as he scored 25 points or more than a third of their points on only 14 shots. He’ll need more of a supporting cast going forward as teams will start to double team even more going forward to limit his output. Northeastern used more of a balanced attack with five players in double figures. Begley was their key performer off the bench playing 35 minutes and scoring 18 points, 7 rebounds and four assists on only seven shots.
The schedule for Kent State leaves them with five non-conference games left three at home and two road games at Oregon State and 22nd ranked Texas. It will be crucial to get more of a balanced attack to finish out the non-conference portion of the schedule on a high note.