Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Post - Athens, OH
The Post
Ohio University's basketball team before their game against Akron, Jan. 17, 2025. The Bobcats were defeated by Akron 92-80, in James A. Rhodes Arena.

Men's Basketball: Ohio falls in heartbreak fashion at Kent State

It came down to the final shot in a tightly contested matchup at Kent State (17-8, 7-5 Mid-American Conference), but Ohio (13-12, 7-5 MAC) didn’t have enough to take down one of its best conference rivals. Neither team could take a lead of more than 11 points for the entirety of the game, but Kent State squeaked by with a 76-75 win. 

The first 10 minutes of the first half were dominated by Ohio, who got out to an 11-point lead with 11 minutes to go in the half. Ohio’s early lead was the largest lead that either team would hold for the remainder of the game. 

Ohio was led throughout the day by Shereef Mitchell, who got started early from the 3-point range. To end the day, Mitchell had a game-leading 25 points that included four 3-pointers. 

Coming in, Kent State had one of the best defenses in the MAC, often holding opponents to less than 65 points. Ohio’s offense had one of the most successful nights of the season against the defense, shooting 51 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range. 

Things got away from the Bobcats in the final moments of the half. Ohio entered the half with a 4-point deficit despite starting hot from the field. 

Kent State was led by a career night by guard Cian Medley, who recorded 24 points to go along with a team-leading two steals. Something Medley and the entire Kent State offense were able to do well was get to the free-throw line. 

As a team, the Golden Flashes took 23 total shots from the line, converting on 20 of them. Ohio was outscored at the line by a total of 10 points, which ended up being monumental in this tight matchup. 

Each team traded baskets back and forth for a majority of the second half. While each team had a couple of scoring runs and scoring droughts, the score remained relatively even till the end. 

With two minutes left in the game, Elmore James knocked down a huge 3-point basket that extended Ohio’s lead to 4 in the dwindling moments of the second half. The Bobcats seemed to have all the momentum on their side, but the Golden Flashes responded quickly. 

After a quick bucket and a stop on defense, Medley rushed inside the paint for the Golden Flashes and converted on a contested layup that would also be rewarded with a foul. After converting on the and-one, Kent State had retaken the lead with under a minute to play. 

Driving with under 30 seconds to play, Ohio turned the ball over on one of the more controversial no-calls of the season. Bobcats guard Jackson Paveletzke possessed the ball at the top of the key when Cli’Ron Hornbeak seemingly forced the ball away with some contact to Paveletzke’s ball hand. Hornbeak threw down a monster dunk in transition on the other end to all but end the game in favor of Kent State. 

Mitchell would convert on a 3-pointer in the waning moments of the final minute to cut the score to 1, giving Ohio a sliver of hope in the final 10 seconds. The Bobcats miraculously retained possession after a miscue on the inbound from Kent State’s Jalen Sullinger, but there wasn’t enough time for Ohio to run any kind of real play for the win. 

Mitchell would get a final shot up that would have been for the win had it not missed short of the basket. 

With the loss, Ohio surrendered its sole possession of fourth place in the MAC. Kent State now moves into a tie with Ohio for the spot, each team sitting at 7-5 after splitting the season series. 

Ohio will be back in action at The Convo this week for games against Central Michigan and Akron. The Bobcats will be looking for much-needed wins in both games if they want to maintain seeding in the MAC Tournament.

@robertkeegan_

bk272121@ohio.edu

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2016-2025 The Post, Athens OH