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Flashes face Broncos, who are tied for first in Western Division
By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Saturday, Jan 31, 2009
The division cellar is not a familiar place for the Kent State men's basketball team, nor a welcome one.
But it is the reality of where they stand at 9-11, 2-4 in the Mid-American Conference midway through a disappointing 2008-09 season.
After knocking off Eastern Michigan on Tuesday to snap a three-game losing streak, the Golden Flashes are looking to secure back-to-back victories for the first time since the beginning of January.
But KSU will have to do it this afternoon against one of the Mid-American Conference's better teams in Western Michigan. The Broncos' record is poor at 7-12 overall, but at 4-2 in the league, they are tied with Ball State for first place in the Western Division.
''Like Coach told us, we're starting out 1-0 now so it's a whole new season,'' said Flashes senior point guard Jordan Mincy after Tuesday's win, their second in the past seven games.
Mincy, who prides himself for his tenacious defense, scored 13 points against Eastern, marking the second-highest total of his career. In addition, Mincy's team-high four assists gave him 303 for his career to go along with 100 steals.
But getting scoring out of Mincy isn't the team's main priority. Instead, getting the team's three guards — senior Al Fisher (15.9 points per game) and juniors Chris Singletary (12.9 ppg) and Tyree Evans (13.0 ppg) — into double digits is more key to this year's perimeter-based offense.
''We don't get double-teamed in the post a lot,'' KSU coach Geno Ford said. ''So it's hard to get a lot of [wide-open outside shots].''
Both WMU and KSU were picked as preseason division favorites, with only the Broncos holding up their end of the deal so far. As far as dominating at home as KSU had been entering the season, WMU also protects its home court well.
Tuesday, East-Division leader Buffalo finally managed to snap the Broncos' 11-game home conference winning streak with a 74-71 road win.
The Flashes still will have to deal with Western junior guard David Kool, who leads the team by averaging 16.7 points per game. Kool took a late 3-pointer Tuesday, trying to force overtime, but it missed.
''He's a very talented player, and we have a lot of respect for him,'' Mincy said.
Also for Western, senior forward Derek Drews has stepped up his game since conference action began. He is leading the MAC in 3-pointers (2.67 per game), and is in second with a .485 average in 3-point shooting. His 12.5 points per game are 14th among league scorers.
Drews will be a good test for the Flashes, who have held opponents to just 19.5 percent (17-for-87) shooting from behind the 3-point line in their past five games.
Note
Ford will wear sneakers today instead of dress shoes as part of a nationwide Coaches vs. Cancer Awareness Program.
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.
The division cellar is not a familiar place for the Kent State men's basketball team, nor a welcome one.
Get the full article here.
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