CLEVELAND – Kent State's hopes of a MAC Tournament title will wait another year after falling to Central Michigan 89-81, Thursday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena. Junior Philip Whittington scored a career-high 23 points and led both sides with 14 rebounds.
Senior Jaylin Walker added 19 points and 11 rebounds, but the Golden Flashes' late comeback attempt ran out of time.
Early in the second half, the Flashes went on a 9-0 run and soon after took a brief lead (52-51) on a jumper by Walker. Central Michigan responded with a 22-2 run, taking a 73-54 lead with 7:48 to play.