Kent, OH — Mike Nuga scored the last five points of the game, including three late free throws to help Kent State to an 85-81 victory over Buffalo in a Mid-American Conference game on Tuesday.
Nuga Top Scores For Kent State
Nuga finished with 23 points and made 7 of 13 shots from the field to go with three steals to lead the way for the Golden Flashes (7-3, 4-2).
The game was a tail of two halves.
Kent State led 47-26 at the halftime break, but Buffalo dominated the second half 55-37 to make it a very close contest in the final moments.
The Bulls cut the deficit to 51-41 with 15:35 to play in the game before trimming the gap to 59-57 midway through the second half. A 3-pointer by Jeenathan Williams put Buffalo ahead 76-73 with 3:05 left and extended the lead to five points with two and a half minutes to play.
Finally Takes The Lead Back
The Bulls continued to lead the contest until the final 1:39 when Kent State scored the final nine points of the game to seal the victory and picked up their fourth successive win.
Justyn Hamilton made 7 of 12 shots to finish with 16 points, Tervell Beck added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Malique Jacobs who had a key steal in the final minute to set up a Nuga basket, ended with nine points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Golden Flashes, who shot 44.6% from the field on 29 of 65 shooting.
Josh Mballa paced Buffalo with 22 points, seven steals, and six rebounds and Williams added 20 points and eight rebounds in the win.
Ronaldo Segu finished with 19 points and Brock Bertram added 10 points and eight boards for the Bills (5-5, 3-3) who lost two straight.
Buffalo made 43.8% of its shots from the field and outrebounded Kent State 41-37.
Mid-American Conference Standings
2020-21 MAC Standings
Full Standings
| SCHOOL | CONF | CPCT. | OVERALL | PCT. | HOME | AWAY | NEUTRAL | STREAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green | 6-1 | 0.857 | 10-3 | 0.769 | 4-2 | 6-1 | 0-0 | W1 |
| Toledo | 6-1 | 0.857 | 11-4 | 0.733 | 6-0 | 4-2 | 1-2 | L1 |
| Ball State | 4-2 | 0.667 | 6-5 | 0.545 | 3-1 | 3-4 | 0-0 | W2 |
| Kent State | 5-3 | 0.625 | 8-4 | 0.667 | 6-2 | 2-2 | 0-0 | W5 |
| Akron | 3-2 | 0.600 | 5-3 | 0.625 | 5-0 | 0-2 | 0-1 | W1 |
| Buffalo | 3-3 | 0.500 | 5-5 | 0.500 | 2-1 | 2-3 | 1-1 | L2 |
| Ohio | 3-4 | 0.429 | 7-6 | 0.538 | 4-2 | 1-4 | 2-0 | L1 |
| Central Michigan | 2-4 | 0.333 | 6-7 | 0.462 | 4-2 | 2-4 | 0-1 | W1 |
| Miami | 1-2 | 0.333 | 4-4 | 0.500 | 4-1 | 0-3 | 0-0 | L1 |
| Eastern Michigan | 1-4 | 0.200 | 4-5 | 0.444 | 4-2 | 0-3 | 0-0 | L1 |
| Western Michigan | 1-4 | 0.200 | 2-8 | 0.200 | 2-5 | 0-3 | 0-0 | L4 |
| Northern Illinois | 1-6 | 0.143 | 2-10 | 0.167 | 2-4 | 0-6 | 0-0 | L1 |
