Kent St. jumps out early in OT, edges Western Michigan 87-84

Jan 5, 2016, 10:07 pm

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Jimmy Hall scored 21 points and Kent State jumped out to a six-point lead in overtime and held on to beat Western Michigan 87-84 in a Mid-American Conference opener on Tuesday night.

Hall opened overtime with two free throws. Anthony Avery Jr. answered for Western Michigan with a jumper to tie it at 78-all. Hall then missed a 3-point attempt, but Khaliq Spicer grabbed the rebound and dunked to spark a 6-0 spurt for the Golden Flashes (10-4, 1-0). Spicer had two more rebounds and Deon Edwin and Xavier Pollard made layups during the span.

Kellen McCormick added a layup to pull Western Michigan (6-8, 0-1) to 84-81 with 1:11 left. Kent State shot 3 of 4 from the line, and McCormick made a 3 with two seconds left to end it.

Thomas Wilder led Western Michigan with 28 points, and had a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to force overtime.