Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Kent State
Falcons Fall To Kent State In MAC Championship, 70-59
March 09, 2002 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2002
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By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) - Once again, Kent State's players walked away from the Mid-American Conference tournament carrying a big trophy with nets hanging around their necks.
Trevor Huffman scored 17 points as the Golden Flashes capped a dominant season in the MAC by winning their third title in four years with a 70-59 victory over Bowling Green on Saturday night.
And for Huffman, and Kent's other seniors, this one was sweeter than the others.
"We're like a family," he said. "We fight. We cry. We laugh. We do everything together."
Especially win.
The Golden Flashes (27-5), who lost just one league game while winning their first regular-season title, won their 18th straight and earned the MAC's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
"Winning last year was great," said Huffman, the tourney MVP. "This year, we had the bull's-eye on our back and we put it there with the winning streak."
They'll enter the tournament having won 23 of 24. But this year it will be tough to sneak up on anyone after they upset Indiana in last year's tournament.
"We're not a no-name team anymore," Huffman said.
Kent State also ended a drought for No. 1 seeds in the MAC tournament, becoming the first top seed to win the title since Eastern Michigan in 1996.
Antonio Gates added 16 points, and Andrew Mitchell 13 for the Golden Flashes, who haven't lost since Jan. 9.
Kent defended its tourney title led by its seniors, Huffman, Mitchell, Demetric Shaw and Eric Thomas. And the Golden Flashes held Keith McLeod, the league's MVP, to 20 points - but just four in the second half.
McLeod scored 65 points in the first two games at Gund Arena.
"The first half I made shots, and the second half I didn't," McLeod said.
The Falcons (24-8) were appearing in their first title game since 1983, and will now have to wait and see if their season was impressive enough to get them a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Bowling Green hasn't been in the NCAA field since 1968.
"We won 24 games, 11 on the road," coach Dan Dakich said. "Who (cares) about the sixth-place team in the SEC playing somebody. Knowing what I know, I think we should (get in). We've sent some things to the committee. I don't know how closely they'll look at it."
Len Matela added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Falcons.
Erik Crawford's basket with 10:41 left pulled the Falcons to 50-43, but Huffman, as he has done so many times the past four years, responded for Kent State by hitting a 3-pointer.
Gates, a junior in his first year at Kent State after attending four other schools, then scored four straight points underneath, and Thomas' basket made it 59-45 with 7:03 remaining.
With McLeod unable to shake free of Huffman, the Falcons didn't get closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Kent coach Stan Heath had no doubt that his seniors would step up when they needed to.
"They refuse to lose," said Heath, in his first year at the school after five seasons as an assistant at Michigan State. "They love to win, and to do it, they'll do whatever is necessary."
With Bowling Green leading 37-36, Kent's senior trio of Huffman, Shaw and Mitchell took it upon themselves to turn things around.
Shaw muscled inside for two offensive rebounds on one trip before hitting a running one-hander. Shaw then made a pair of driving layups, the second on a nice pass from Huffman as Kent went on a 10-0 run to open a 46-37 lead with 12:50 remaining.
Instead of using Shaw, the MAC's defensive player of the year the past two seasons, to guard McLeod, Heath started Huffman on him first before switching.
It didn't matter to McLeod, though. He made two straight 3-pointers and an assortment of jumpers while scoring 16 points in the first half.
Those same shots didn't go down in the second half.
"I just think he got tired," Shaw said. "Luckily, some of the shots he took rimmed out and he slowed down a little bit."
