KENT — With 40 seconds left in regulation Saturday at the M.A.C. Center, Kent State 's VonCameron Davis stepped to the free-throw line.
He split two attempts to pull the Golden Flashes within two points of Central Michigan in a crucial Mid-American Conference game.
Thirty-eight seconds later, Davis returned to the line with a chance to tie the score.
"I had a lot of confidence in him. Von has been a part of this program for a long time, and nothing fazes him," Kent State's Giovanni Santiago said. "We have all the trust in the world him. I told the guys right away, when he got fouled, to leave him alone — he's gonna knock them down."
Davis sunk both attempts, sending the game into overtime and the Flashes on their way to a big 79-73 win.
"I would have been more surprised if he didn't make both," Kent State coach Rob Senderoff said. "He's an ultra-competitive guy. When you get late in games, you can throw your stats out of the window, and a lot of that has to do with your heart and your mentality.
"Von is a really high basketball character person who's been a Mr. Basketball in the state of Ohio."
After Davis forced overtime, Santiago scored the first seven points of the extra period to send the Flashes to victory.
Kent State (15-14, 8-8) honored its seniors, Santiago and graduate student forward Chris Payton Jr. , before the game.
Santiago is seventh all-time in assists (357), eighth in 3-pointers (176) and 11th in games played (128).
"This place will always be home for me," he said. "I'm always gonna appreciate it, how they took me in from day one, and the love has never changed."
Payton has spent the last two seasons of his collegiate career at KSU after starting at Indian Hill Junior College and one season at Pittsburgh.
"I was kind of trying to figure out where would be home for me," Payton said. "I knew from day one, when I stepped on campus, that it was different.
"The main thing I'm gonna take away from it is just like my teammates, and how they've accepted me for who I am, and the coaches, letting me kind of turn into who I wanted to be as a basketball player."
Payton suffered a season-ending wrist injury in the Flashes' previous game against Buffalo and is learning to adapt to his new role.
"I'm a pretty talkative person, and I've been talking to these guys all season trying to get them going," he said. "So just kind of relying on that, and I feel like they respect my voice. I feel like if I say something, I'm not going to say they're going to live and die by it, but I think they respect me enough to at least acknowledge it."
KSU shot 25% from the field during the first half and was outscored 20-6 in the paint as the Chippewas (16-13, 10-6) built a 28-25 halftime lead.
Senderoff credited the ball security for the reason his team had a chance late in the game.
"They (CMU) shot significantly better than us from the field. They had more paint points, more bench points and more second-chance points," he said. "We didn't turn the ball over because our guards did a great job."
The Flashes finished the game with two turnovers and 15 assists. CMU had 11 turnovers, leading to 14 points.
Santiago scored nine of his game-high 21 points in overtime.
"Trying to come up with the victory — that is all I was thinking about," he said. "That's the way that I play all the time, just trying to make plays to help the team win."
After the Flashes grabbed a 69-64 lead to start overtime, the Chippewas answered with a 9-3 scoring run to take a one-point lead with 1:44 remaining. But Kent State held CMU scoreless the rest of the way, and the Flashes made both field-goal attempts and both free throws to earn the victory.
Jalen Sullinger (16 points) and Davis (11) also scored in double figures for Kent State, which will hit the road for its final two regular-season games. The Flashes play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Ball State and 8 p.m. Friday at Toledo .
The Cardinals (14-15, 6-10) are in ninth place in MAC, and the Flashes are seventh. The top eight teams will make the MAC Tournament beginning March 14. The win clinches a spot for Kent State in the tournament.
Kent State defeated Ball State 82-69 on Jan. 2 with five players scored 10 or more points.
"I think we're going to be confident if we get a chance to go up to Cleveland," Senderoff said. "We're playing better now than we were in January.
"In January, we would have lost this game tonight, so the fact that we were winning it today shows me the growth that the team's had."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent State men's basketball defeats Central Michigan in overtime
