CLEVELAND — Kent State picked a good night to have its best 3-point shooting performance of the season.

It was critical in dashing Bowling Green State University’s chances of reaching the Mid-American Conference men’s basketball tournament final.

The No. 8 seed Golden Flashes made a blistering 12 of 18 shots from beyond the arc, with most coming either late in the shot clock, from well beyond the line, and in moments where the No. 5 Falcons were gaining momentum, en route to earning a 73-60 victory in a MAC semifinal on Friday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

“Those are the type of games you can do a lot right, and that’s a great neutralizer,” BGSU coach Todd Simon said. “How many late-clock 3s they got, and deep, and maybe even contested; some of those, you’ve just got to shrug and say ‘Hey, that’s their day.’”

BGSU, which was seeking its first MAC title game since 2019 and fifth overall, fell to 20-13. Kent State (17-16), the defending MAC tournament champion, reached its third consecutive title game.

“That’s the players and the staff. That’s what Kent State’s about,” Kent State coach Rob Senderoff said. “... For us to be playing again on Saturday night, I’ve been in this league for a long, long time as an assistant and a head coach, so I know how difficult it is. Just appreciate that these guys get the opportunity to play tomorrow night.”

Kent State guards Jalen Sullinger and Giovanni Santiago torched BGSU the entire night. Sullinger sank 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range and finished with 22 points and five assists, while Santiago poured in 20 points (6 of 8 from beyond the arc) with six assists.

Time and again, the duo came up with clutch shots. Sullinger nailed 3s on back-to-back Kent State possessions to give the Golden Flashes a 63-51 lead with 4:30 left, its biggest at the time, and Santiago’s trey with 1:42 remaining extended the lead to 70-55.

“We talked about it in film earlier today and yesterday that they’re an explosive team. They live with the 3-ball and they shoot it well, so we expected those runs,” BGSU senior forward Jason Spurgin said. “We tried to handle them and bounce back with it, but they got the better of us and they shot the ball well.”

In its previous four games, Kent State shot just 30.8 percent (32 of 104). The Golden Flashes’ 66.7 percent shooting on Friday was a season high by a wide margin, and their 12 made 3s were tied for their second most of the season.

Despite battling foul trouble, Kent State’s shooting, and a nearly six-minute scoring drought in the first half, BGSU went into the break trailing just 34-28. Trey Thomas and Rashaun Agee, who combined for 33 points in the Falcons’ 66-56 quarterfinal win over Central Michigan on Thursday, sat most of the first half with two fouls apiece.

Marcus Hill, who led the Falcons with 22 points (9 of 18 shooting), broke the drought and scored four points in the final two minutes in helping BGSU trim a 10-point deficit to six.

“That was a backbreaker having Rashaun picking up that second and Trey picking up the second. That’s two vital pieces to what we do, so all of the sudden, we’re kind of in the half trying to manufacture some points,” Simon said. “To go in there down six, we felt really good that we got within striking distance despite the really hot shooting. To be a two-possession game at that point was a testament to the guys defensively and taking care of the ball and giving us a chance.”

Agee scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Hill snagged six rebounds as well.

The battle on the glass went to Kent State, which had a 33-29 advantage against the top rebounding team in the MAC. Toledo native Cli’Ron Hornbeak had a game-high nine rebounds and scored nine points.

“If we were able to stay about even on the glass, we thought we’d have a chance, and we did,” Senderoff said. “We outrebounded them, they had two more second chance points than us.”

“Obviously, they scored more in the paint, but we shot the 3 at a ridiculous level. That was a big part for us. We wanted to make sure we kept a body on a body as much as possible, and we did a great job with that.”

Kent State shot 51 percent overall (26 of 51) and 56.3 percent (9 of 16) from the free-throw line. BGSU shot 37.7 percent (20 of 53), including just 20 percent (4 of 20) from 3-point range, and a season-high 94.1 percent (16 of 17) from the free-throw line.

First Published March 16, 2024, 1:07 a.m.