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Final Scorebook (PDF) 

ATHENS, Ohio -- Redshirt junior forward Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) set a career high in threes made with five and scored a season-high 24 points, but it wasn't enough for the men's basketball team (7-6, 3-4 MAC) to overcome Kent State (6-3, 3-2 MAC), falling 89-79 Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center. 

"I think they came out the first two wars, the first eight minutes of the game and set the tone for the whole game," said second year head coach Jeff Boals. "Every time we would battle back. We dug a hole in the first half, battled back, cut it to eight. We couldn't get that 50-50 ball on the rebound. Knock down an open three and even the start of the second half, we came out, cut it to nine. They ended up getting it back to 17. We missed a lot of wide open shots. When you're down to a good team, those open ones are the ones you got to make. It came down to them imposing their will on the boards, most definitely."

Vander Plas added five assists, one rebound, and two steals to his day. Junior guard Jason Preston (Orlando, Fla.) put up a double-double with 23 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals. Sophomore forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) put up nine points and senior forward Dwight Wilson III (Tallahassee, Fla.) scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds. Sophomore guard Lunden McDay (Akron, Ohio) scored four points and grabbed four boards. Off the bench, freshman guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals, Ala.) scored seven points, grabbed two rebounds and dished out two assists, while sophomore guard Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) scored three points. 

As a team, Ohio shot 42.9 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 78.6 percent from the free throw line. Kent State shot 57.4 percent from the field, 36.0 percent from three point range, and 66.7 percent from the line. The Flashes out-rebounded Ohio 45-21 while Ohio led in assists 20-18. 

Kent State had four players score in double digits. They were led by Danny Pippen who put up 22 points and eight rebounds and Michael Nuga with18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. 

Ohio won the tip and Roderick nailed a three to get things started. Wilson III would put up a hook shot jumper tying the game at seven with 16:25 to go. Kent State went on a 9-0 run before Brown put back a three to bring the score to 19-12 Kent State with 11:55 remaining. Brown and Vander Plas hit back-to-back threes before Brown intercepted a pass and found an open Preston who scored on the fastbreak bringing the score to 19-17 Kent State going into the under-12 media timeout. Preston launched a three to bring the score to 29-24, Kent State with 5:18 left. Ohio trailed 40-24 going into the locker room at halftime. 

At the half, Ohio shot 34.6 percent from the field, 26.7 percent from three-point range, and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. Kent State shot 54.8 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from the three, and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. Kent State out-rebounded Ohio 26-6 and Ohio led in steals 2-0. 

Preston led all Ohio players at the half with seven points and two assists. 

Coming out of the locker room, Roderick hit a three. Vander Plas forced a steal and passed to Preston for a highlight-reel worthy dunk. After that, Vander Plas and Preston combined for three buckets from beyond the arc to bring the score to 60-52 Kent State with 11:32 remaining. Ohio would score 53 points in the second half, but it was not enough to overpower the Flashes who came away with a 89-79 victory.

The Bobcats will make the trip to DeKalb, Ill. for a Mid-American Conference match-up with Northern Illinois on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET inside the NIU Convocation Center. 

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