Jalen Sullinger offering Kent State’s male basketball team as Mac Race warms up heating

Kent – Six games ago, Kent State’s male basketball team suffered a hard blow in the middle of the season.

On January 31, Kent State lost 85-71 against his rival Akron-the strongest defeat against the ZIP in almost three years to die for 13-8 in total and 4-5 and in fifth place in the American conference .

Golden flashes have not been lost since.

The flashes are on a sequence of five consecutive victories of five games, with four victories against the Mac opponents and the other on the Arkansas State (76-75), the best team of the solar belt.

“We continue to play well here in February,” said coach Rob Senderoff. “It is never easy to obtain victories on the road in the conference. There were certainly things that we could have done better, but I am really satisfied with the way we played. »»

The recent tear propelled the flashes (18-8, 8-5) tied for fourth place in the Mac and only two games in second place before a match at Miami University at 8 p.m. Friday.

What brought Kent State’s male basketball team to win five games in a row?

The Kent State victories sequence can be repressed to a major factor: the offensive leadership of the main goalkeeper Jalen Sullinger.

This season, Kent State is 10th in the score conference, with an average of 72.1 points. Only once, he scored less than 72 points during his current victories sequence – a 70-49 victory against eastern Michigan – and he has two 91 points.

The offensive explosions are due, in large part, to the emergence of Sullinger as guards.

In the victory over eastern Michigan on February 4, Sullinger scored 11 points. He has not scored less than 18 points since. He scored 27 points in the victory against the Arkansas State and paid a 32-point summit, equaling his best career, in a 91-84 victory on Bowling Green on Tuesday.

“It was a big victory tonight – it was a team effort,” said Sullinger after the victory. “Everyone plays an important role in victory. We clicked tonight and continue to hit our stride. My role is often to mark the ball, and I did it tonight. I arrived at the Lancer francs tonight.

Sullinger not only arrived at the Launcère francs line, but he also converted his 15 attempts when he arrived. He added five rebounds and five assists.

Since the start of the victory sequence, Sullinger has been the team’s top scorer in two games and the second top scorer in two other.

It has become clear in the recent matches that Kent State directs the offensive via Sullinger, who supports the offensive to mark more and more effectively. During the victories sequence, Sullinger contributed 14 assists, while overthrowing the ball more than 11 times.

How did the goalkeeper Jalen Sullinger intervened to lead the Kent State male basketball team?

Sullinger even becomes more effective as victories accumulate for KSU.

In the victory over the eastern Michigan, Sullinger pulled 44.4% of the soil, and its effectiveness has increased in each match since. Its efficiency has reached a peak in Bowling Green, where it pulled 8 out of 13 (61.5%) on the ground – its second best note this season.

“Lately, I have been more effective, and that helps us win matches,” said Sullinger. “One of my roles in the team is to score. It is important that I do this at an effective pace, giving us a better chance of winning. My teammates do a good job by finding me, and (Senderoff) puts me in good position to do what I need.

Sullinger has worked on his leadership for years, but very recently grown up. The results appear on the dashboard.

“My leadership was significantly better this year,” said Sullinger. “I insisted on the expression and show how to maintain the winning culture that we have here in Kent State. The biggest way to direct is by example, so I try to do whatever I want my boys to do. We did it during my victories sequence, and we will continue to do the rest of the season. »»

Sullinger will seek to add another victory to the sequence for flashes while improving his already stellar game against the Redhawks on Friday.

Miami is one of the three teams in front of Kent State in the Mac ranking. The Redhawks have an advantage of 1.5 on KSU, which makes Kent State victory important to tighten the Mac qualification series with only five games to play.

“These are all big games during the section, and it is the next one in front of us,” said Senderoff. “We put ourselves in a position where these games at the end of February have a meaning, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to play a significant game.”

John Hilber is a correspondent for Akron Beacon Journal. You can contact him at jhilber@kent.edu.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent State male basketball guided by an improved game from Jalen Sullinger