Golden Flashes snap RedHawks 3-game win streak
OXFORD — The Miami RedHawks went into t he ir Mid-American Conference game against Kent State on Saturday hoping to earn a fourth consecutive MAC win for the first time since winning four straight in February 2015.
They couldn’t make it happen against a Golden Flashes team that enjoyed a size advantage and put it to good use. Kent State closed the first half with a 10-2 run and rode a massive rebounding edge to pull away for a 64-51 win at Millett Hall in Miami’s final home game of the season.
Kent State (15-6, 12-5) outrebounded Miami (11-10, 8-8) by a whopping 45-27, leading to advantages of 34-18 on points in the paint and 20-5 on second-chance points.
Tervell Beck, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, led both teams with 19 points and 12 to their pace,” White said. “They don’t play as fast as we do. It took a while to get back on our pace. We have to be able to overcome obstacles. We have to be better next time.”
White especially was disappointed to lose the final home game of the season.
“It’s pretty painful,” he said. “We put in a lot of hard work this week. We were grinding in and out. We wanted to finish with a win. We just have to keep our heads high and focus on the next one now.”
The game was Miami’s fourth in eight days, the first three on the road. The MAC added games at Central Michigan on last Tuesday and Western Michigan on Thursday to makeup for games that were postponed earlier in the season due to COVID-19 protocols, but White didn’t think that played a role on Saturday.
“I don’t think so,” said White, who also coaxed the
Golden Flashes into committing four offensive fouls. “We’re pretty good at taking care of our bodies and getting rest. We just have to get better as a team.”
“I just know this — we weren’t at our best,” Owens said. “We have to be better. You can’t give in. When you play that many games in a short period of time, we didn’t have the same pop we normally have. We would go on a run, but we couldn’t sustain it. The schedule is what it is. It’s what we have to go through to finish out the conference race.”
The RedHawks, who clinched one of the MAC’s eight postseason tournament berths with their 74-66 win at Western Michigan on Thursday, are scheduled to wrap up the regular season with games at Bowling Green on Tuesday and at Akron on Friday.
The MAC’s men’s tournament is scheduled to start on March 11 in Cleveland.