Thunderous dunk helps Kent State men's basketball team stop Buffalo

Michael Porrini's dunk with 19 seconds left keeps the Flashes in the mix in the Mid-American Conference.

Joe Magill / Special to The Plain Dealer

KENT, Ohio — Rodriquez Sherman lay on the floor, pounding his fist in delight. He and everyone else in Kent State's M.A.C. Center couldn't believe what Michael Porrini had just done.

Porrini, who struggled all night offensively, threw down a thundering one-handed dunk with 19 seconds to play as Kent held off Buffalo, 72-69, to maintain its one-game lead in the Eastern Division of the Mid-American Conference. The Flashes improve to 19-9 overall and 10-3 in the MAC; the Bulls fall to 16-10, 7-6.

"I couldn't believe he dunked it," Kent coach Geno Ford said. "It was as jaw-dropping to me as it was to anyone in the building. It was an unbelievable finish."

At the time of the improbable dunk, the Flashes were clinging to a 68-67 lead. As the shot clock wound down, Porrini received a cross-court pass on the left wing. He immediately went to the basket and turned his back to the baseline, avoiding a defender while putting the ball in his right hand.

Porrini, who stands 6-1, then put the ball behind his head -- seemingly behind the backboard -- before throwing it down with a windmill motion.

"To be honest with you, I didn't know I put the ball so far back until I saw the video," said Porrini, who was lobbying for someone to get the tape to ESPN's "SportsCenter." "It was just the action of the play."

Porrini has been battling an injury to his right hand but didn't hesitate to dunk.

"My hand hurts," he said. "It was just adrenaline, I guess. We're trying to win a championship and you've got to play through injuries."

Zach Filzen led Buffalo with 17 points, including 14 in the first half as the Bulls raced to a 43-33 lead. The junior, who is second in the nation with 3.6 made 3s per game, hit 4-of-6 3-pointers in the first half as the visitors appeared in control.

But Filzen hit just 1-of-11 attempts in the second half and the Bulls scored only 13 points in the first 16:21. Buffalo shot just 35 percent from the field in the second half and made only 1-of-10 3-pointers and 3-of-8 free throws.

"We picked it up on defense," said Carlton Guyton, who came off the bench to lead Kent with 19 points. "That's what was most important."

While shutting down Buffalo, the Flashes battled their way back into the game, finally taking the lead with 7:59 to play as Guyton scored on a fast-break layup to give Kent a 57-56 lead. The margin grew to eight, 66-58, after Glenville's Randal Holt hit a 3-pointer with 4:55 to play.

The Bulls cut their deficit to one before Porrini's dunk, but Holt followed the dunk with two free throws with 8.2 seconds to play and Guyton blocked Buffalo's final 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Joe Magill is a freelance writer in University Heights.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2011/02/thunderous_dunk_helps_kent_sta.html

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