CLEVELAND — VonCameron Davis scored 26 points and No. 8 seed Kent State beat top-seeded Toledo 67-59 on Thursday in the opening game of the Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
Davis also contributed 12 rebounds for the Golden Flashes (16-16), who defeated the Rockets in last year's MAC championship game to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Jalen Sullinger shot 5 for 17 and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line to add 14 points. Giovanni Santiago shot 3 for 8 (3 for 6 from 3-point range) and 3 of 6 from the free-throw line to finish with 12 points.
The Rockets (20-12) were led by Dante Maddox Jr., who posted 19 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Tyler Cochran added 14 points for Toledo. Andre Lorentsson also had 10 points.
Kent State took the lead with 2:53 left in the first half and never looked back. Davis led his team in scoring with 12 points in the first half to help put them ahead 28-24 at the break. Davis led the way with a team-high 14 second-half points.
Toledo, which has won the last four regular-season conference titles, has not won the MAC Tournament since the inaugural gathering back in 1980. Each of their last two losses in the event have come at the hands of KSU.
The Flashes will battle 5-seed Bowling Green in Friday's semifinals after the Falcons beat No. 4 Central Michigan 66-56 in the quarters. In addition, second-seeded Akron will face No. 7 Miami (OH) this afternoon.
The women's tournament is also taking place this week, and No. 3 seed Kent State knocked off Northern Illinois 63-60 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. KSU will take on 2-seed Ball State Friday afternoon in the semis.
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.