Feb. 23, 2008

Box Score

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) -- Al Fisher scored 28 points and Kent State held No. 23 Saint Mary's without a basket for more than 6 minutes down the stretch to bolster its credentials for a possible at-large bid to the NCAA tournament with a 65-57 victory over the Gaels on Saturday night.

The Golden Flashes (23-5) have won six straight and are in first place in their division in the Mid-American Conference. But because the MAC hasn't received an at-large bid since 1999, Kent State needs to do everything it can before the conference tournament to create a safety net.

Beating a ranked team in the regular season for the first time in school history will surely help. Especially on the road in an ESPN BracketBuster game.

Fisher's clutch play down the stretch overshadowed a dominant performance by Diamon Simpson, who had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Gaels (23-4). Saint Mary's had won six straight and was 14-0 at home this season.

Haminn Quaintance scored down low to give Kent State the lead for good at 56-55 with 3:29 to go. Fisher added a hanging drive and then scored on an acrobatic reverse to make it 60-55 with 51.4 seconds remaining. Mike Scott added a pair of free throws before Lucas Walker's layup with 26.8 seconds left cut the lead to 62-57.

That was Saint Mary's first basket since Tron Smith scored with 6:59 to go to make it 53-47. Simpson and Patty Mills both missed front ends of one-and-ones during the drought for the Gaels.

Quaintance added 11 points and Scott had 10 for Kent State.

Mills, the Gaels' leading scorer, was held to five points on 2-for-11 shooting as Saint Mary's struggled to find offense form anyone other than Simpson. Center Omar Samhan left the game with what appeared to be a right shoulder injury with 6:16 remaining in the first half and did not return.

Kent State got off to a fast shooting start, making 10 of its first 17 shots to open up a 22-15 lead. But the Golden Flashes then went more than 7 minutes without scoring, missing all seven shots, including a missed dunk attempt by Scott.

Simpson took over for Saint Mary's, scoring 10 straight points during the drought. Simpson's basket early in the second half capped the run and made it 34-26, but Kent State rallied.