” It’s not often that a loss in one mid-season conference game can derail the rest of the season, but that’s likely what a loss to Kent State on Saturday would have done to the Zips’ hopes for a successful season. It’s not simply the fact that it would have been the fourth consecutive loss to UA’s archrival, or that it would have dropped the Zips to the bottom of the Mid-American Conference’s East Division.”
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It’s not often that a loss in one mid-season conference game can derail the rest of the season, but that’s likely what a loss to Kent State on Saturday would have done to the Zips’ hopes for a successful season.
It’s not simply the fact that it would have been the fourth consecutive loss to UA’s archrival, or that it would have dropped the Zips to the bottom of the Mid-American Conference’s East Division.
As daunting as those obstacles might have been to overcome, neither would have been as difficult as overcoming the self-doubt that’s sure to come from dropping four conference games that were within their grasp.
Head coach Keith Dambrot wasn’t shy about expressing the importance of the win after the game.
Oh, we had to have this win, Vince, Dambrot said. Already, you can see we’re fragile. At some point, how hard can you play every single night when you keep dropping games when you’re right there to win?
That’s a hard thing psychologically. It’s hard on the players, it’s hard on the coaching (and) it’s hard on the fans.
While it certainly would’ve been devastating, it looked like it might happen as KSU made its painful run through much of the second half.
I knew even before KSU began its run that it was coming. As the Golden Flashes walked on the court to begin play in the second half, senior guard Jordan Mincy was firing up his teammates.
Unlike the first half, KSU came out as the more aggressive, hungrier team, and it showed.
We coughed it up to start the second half and it could’ve been disastrous, Dambrot said of the team’s turnover-laden start to the second half. I saw some glassy eyes in the huddle and said, ‘Come on, we worked too hard for this.’
Thanks to strong interior play, disaster was avoided and hope and optimism remain for the team’s chances this season.
But, if the team doesn’t quickly learn how to re-focus when faced with adversity, disaster will strike and turn a promising season into disappointment.
Call sportswriter Vincent Dorsey at:
330-972-7395.
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