Senior guard Norris Cole led the Vikings with 21 points with Jeremy Montgomery getting all 14 of his points in the second half.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A furious second-half rally by Cleveland State turned a 16-point deficit into a 69-66 victory over Kent State Sunday night to keep the Vikings undefeated (3-0) in the title game of CSU's World Vision Classic.
The Golden Flashes fell to 2-1 as a rash of missed shots and failure to go inside to center Justin Greene the final 15:49 led to their demise.
Senior guard Norris Cole led the Vikings with 21 points with Jeremy Montgomery getting all 14 of his points in the second half. Greene paced Kent with 17 points, but only two after the Flashes built what looked like a commanding lead.
"They threw a nice first blow, we took it and threw it back and they couldn't overcome it,'' Cole surmised after the game.
The first half saw Kent State turn a 10-10 tie into a 34-23 halftime lead that easily could have been higher if not for some ill-timed turnovers and 41 percent shooting. What aided the Flashes greatly was a 30-19 advantage on the backboards including a 9-5 edge on the offensive end. Even that understated the domination, as 6-11 Justin Manns had a pair of tip-dunks off missed Kent State shots, but was credited with just one offensive board.
Kent's defense was also strong, holding Cleveland State to 29.4 percent shooting in the opening half, with Cole going 4-of-11 to lead the Vikings with 10 early points. The one big plus for the Vikings was no player in foul trouble, opening the door for some serious second-half defensive pressure against Kent.
That pressure came after the Golden Flashes had pushed their lead out to 45-29 with 15:49 to play. But it came with something else, a zone, to force Kent to shoot from the outside and also shut down Greene in the paint.
"Greene was scoring on a pace you couldn't stop,'' CSU head coach Gary Waters said. "Zones are good this early part of the season, and that was a decision made off the cuff.''
"They dared us to shoot the ball,'' Kent coach Gene Ford said. "They said 'beat us with a shot.' Our legs just went, and fatigue showed.''
In short order, the Vikings got hot and the Flashes turned cold. With Jeremy Montgomery getting on a roll, CSU closed within 50-48 with 8:41 to play.
Two possessions later, Tim Kamczyc followed a CSU miss to tie the game at 50 to cap a 21-5 run. CSU built a 56-52 lead after a pair of Montgomery free throws, but Kent State flashed back with a dunk from Manns and a 3-pointer from Guyton to regain the lead.
Inside the final three minutes, a power move from Pogue and another tip-in from Kamczyc put the Vikings back on top, 60-57.
"In the second half, our physicality and our toughness showed,'' Cole said.
Kent tied the game at 61 on a Carlton Guyton 3-pointer. But after Cole's layup gave CSU a 63-61 lead, Kent guard Michael Porinni traveled at midcourt then compounded his mistake by getting a technical foul. Cole knocked the free throws down for a four-point lead. Kent had an open 3-pointer to tie at the buzzer, but it missed.