Williams, Simons carry Kent St. past Wright St. 72-71

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Danny Pippen buried a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining and Kent State, which trailed by 16 points in the first half, defeated Wright State 72-71 on Saturday night.

Leading 68-66 with 35 seconds to go, Bill Wampler hit two free throws for Wright State. Kent State’s Troy Simons answered with a 3-pointer, his fourth of the game, and Jaylon Hall made the first of two free throws for Wright State to leave the Raiders up 71-69 prior to Pippen’s game-winner.

Antonio Williams had 18 points to lead five players in double figures for the Golden Flashes. Simons had 16 points, Pippen finished with 13 while Philip Whittington and Anthony Roberts scored 10 apiece. Simons and Whittington had double-doubles, Simons grabbing 11 rebounds and Whittington 10.

Wampler had 18 points for the Raiders (3-1). Hall added 15 points and Loudon Love had nine rebounds.

Cole Gentry’s layup gave the Raiders a 68-59 lead with 2:41 remaining in the second half before Simons hit a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run for Kent State. Wright State went the rest of the game without a made field goal.

Hall’s 3-pointer put the Raiders up 40-24 with 2:14 remaining in the first half and they went on to lead 42-32 at halftime.

Kent State (3-0) plays Purdue Fort Wayne at home on Tuesday. Wright St. faces Urbana at home on Wednesday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com