Forward Justin Greene has 26 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, and guard Rod Sherman adds 20 points to rally Kent State in the final 2:50 for a 73-72 victory.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The first 10 minutes and the last 2:01 Friday looked like vintage Kent State basketball. In between, the Golden Flashes' men's team tried to throw away its season opener before winning, 73-72, over the Iona Gaels in the opening game of the World Vision Classic at Cleveland State's Wolstein Center.
Junior forward Justin Greene, with 26 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, and senior guard Rod Sherman, with 20 points, five assists and clutch free throws late, rallied Kent State from a 70-64 deficit in the final 2:50 with plays that made coach Geno Ford take notice.
"Down six with two minutes to play, to have that much fight, that much belief was tremendous," Ford said. "To be so young and to act like veterans. To find a way to win in a game like that, you can't put a value on it."
If this team with eight players who never have played at Kent acted like vets, it's because they were led by the only two veterans on the team.
Some hard drives to the hoop by Sherman for a big three-point play . . . a dunk by Greene on an assist from Sherman . . . a game-tying 3-pointer from Carlton Guyton (14 points, six assists) on an assist from Sherman . . . a blocked shot by Greene with 22 seconds to play and the game tied, 72-72 . . . the game-winning free throw by Greene after being fouled going to the hoop on a Sherman-Greene pick-and-roll with 1.9 seconds to play.
All inside the final 2:01.
Iona did not help its cause by going 17-of-30 from the line, even as it forced Kent into 21 turnovers.
"That's the one area we thought we could exploit against them," Iona coach Tim Cluess said of KSU's backcourt.
In the end, however, the Golden Flashes did not have a turnover in the final 7:52.
Kent State took a 35-32 halftime lead behind some pestering perimeter defense and Greene's strong inside scoring. He had 15 of his points and five of his boards at the break, making 7 of 9 shots while pacing a 21-16 Kent rebound advantage.
The Flashes nearly blew a 33-27 lead inside the final five minutes of the half as they committed four of their nine first-half turnovers in that final segment. Only some cool shooting from the Gaels -- 2-of-7 in the final minutes, 40 percent for the half -- kept the Gaels from taking advantage of Kent's miscues.
KSU next plays Bryant today at 3:30 p.m.