Location: M.A.C. Center – Kent, Ohio
Starters: Â G - #1 Malcolm McMillan; G - #5 Kassius Robertson, G - #23 Jamal Reynolds, F - #22 Phil Valenti, C - #14 Kevin Bleeker
Game Recap
Canisius sophomore Jermaine Crumpton scored a career-high 25 points, but five Kent State players recorded double-figures in the scoring column and the home team shot 54.2 percent from the field as the host Golden Flashes defeated the Golden Griffins 84-77 in the second game of the 2015 Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic in Kent, Ohio Saturday night. The win, Kent State's fourth straight, improved the team to 7-2, while Canisius fell to 3-6 with the loss.
Crumpton's 25 points came after the Niagara Falls, N.Y., native went 11-for-15 from the field and 3-for-6 from 3-point land. He also added four rebounds and three assists to his final stat line. Sophomore Kassius Robertson added 13 points, while junior Phil Valenti was good for 12 points, a rebound, a steal and an assist. Sophomore Adam Weir came off the bench to record a season-high nine points on the power of three made 3-point field goals, and senior Kevin Bleeker recorded a team-high seven rebounds in the losing effort.
Kent State guard Kellon Thomas scored a team-high 17 points in the win for the Flashes, who improved to 5-0 at home this season with the victory. Seven of Thomas' 17 points came from the free-throw line. Junior Jimmy Hall added 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks and teammate Chris Ortiz came off the bench to post a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Canisius trailed by as many as 10 points with 11:02 left in the game, but the Griffs were able to cut Kent State's cushion to just two at 68-66 when Robertson made one of two free-throw chances with 3:55 left on the clock. From there, Kent State pulled away with a 7-2 run over the next 2:33 to push its lead back to 75-68, with Thomas scoring five of those points, three of which came from the charity stripe.
How It Happened:
• Kent State opened the game by scoring the contest's first seven points to take a 7-0 lead. The Griffs' first basket came 2:56 into the contest on a lay-up by senior Jamal Reynolds.
• Canisius trailed 20-11 with 11:09 left before halftime, but a 16-6 run over the span of 5:15 gave the Blue and Gold their first lead at 27-26. In that run, Canisius got four 3-pointers (two from Valenti and two from Weir) and senior Malcolm McMillan gave the Griffs the lead by draining a pair of free-throws.
• McMillan sunk a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left before the half to knot the game at 36-36, but the Flashes scored the final four points of the first stanza to take a 40-36 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
• In the second half, Canisius trailed 51-45 with 14:17 left in regulation, but Robertson cut that lead in half with a 3-pointer from the right corner with 14:03 left to make the score 51-48. From there, Kent State outscored Canisius 7-0 over the next 2:02, capped by a lay-up by Hall, to give the Flashes a 10-point cushion at 58-48 with 11:02 remaining in the contest.
Beyond the Box Score:
• Kent State scored 48 points in the paint in the win, with 30 of those coming in the game's first half.
• The Griffs forced Kent State into 12 turnovers. Coming into the game, the Flashes ranked in the top-10 nationally in fewest turnovers per game with 9.8 per contest.
• Crumpton's 25 points helped Canisius score 36 bench points.
• The Griffs recorded 11 3-point field goals in the loss, the 37th time under head coach Jim Baron where the team has made 10-plus 3-pointers in a game.
• Canisius shot 39.4 percent from the field, the second-straight game where the team has been under 40 percent from the floor.
Quotes from Canisius coach Jim Baron
"We knew coming in that they were going to use their size and go inside to score. I thought we made some good defensive adjustments by mixing and matching defenses, especially in the second half."
"We had some guys get into foul trouble and that hurt us. We need to do a better job of defending the basketball without fouling, and we can't give away fouls 30 and 40-feet from the basket."
"Our bench effort was strong tonight. Crumpton came in and took advantage of a mismatch we had at the 4-spot. He's a pick-and-pop guy who plays with no fear. We just need to get a full-team effort to be successful."
"I thought Adam Weir did a nice job coming in and giving us some quality minutes. When Phil [Valenti] got those two fouls in the first half, he stepped in and made some shots and used his strength on defense."
Additional Game Notes:
• This was the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools, and the first since Dec. 31, 1983.
• Both teams have two wins in this series, and the home team has won all four times.
• This was Canisius' second game in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic, and exempt event will wrap up Dec. 22-23 in Las Vegas, Nev.
• Crumpton's previous career-high was 18 points, which he scored against Marist at home Feb. 1, 2015 in his first career start.
• Weir tied a career-high with his three makes from behind the arc. He also had three treys in a win over Holy Cross Dec. 21, 2014 at home.
• The Griffs had 18 assists on 26 made field goals, led by McMillan, who recorded a game-high five in the loss.
Up Next: Canisius will have a week off for finals exams before playing host to Boston University next Saturday, Dec. 19. Game time in the Koessler Athletic Center is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the live radio call can be heard on Timless WECK 1230-AM and 102.9-FM in Buffalo and GoGriffs.com.
