Kent State jelling behind Fisher

The Flashes are riding a
six-game winning streak and eyeing an NCAA berth.

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) — No one on Jim Christian’s coaching staff had ever seen Al Fisher play in person when Kent State offered him a scholarship last August. The Golden Flashes have liked everything they’ve seen from Fisher ever since.

Fisher scored 28 points and Kent State held No. 23 Saint Mary’s without a basket for more than six minutes down the stretch to bolster its credentials for a possible at-large bid to the NCAA tournament with a 65-57 victory over the Gaels Saturday night.

“It definitely gives us a lot of recognition,” Fisher said. “A lot of people say we weren’t getting as much as we should. We came in here and got a quality win against a top 25 team. Hopefully that will put us on the map.”

Fisher is a big reason why, averaging 21 points during a six-game winning streak for the Golden Flashes (23-5).

He was searching for a school last summer after spending one year at Siena and another at Redlands Community College in Oklahoma. After talking to Fisher’s junior college coach, Steve Eck, Christian offered Fisher a scholarship.

“We did our homework. We did our research but we never saw him play live,” Christian said. “I’m glad he’s with us. No one would expect what he’s given us. He’s been a tremendous player all year.”

The Golden Flashes are in first place in their division in the Mid-American Conference. But because the MAC hasn’t received an at-large bid since 1999, Kent State needs to do everything it can before the conference tournament to create a safety net.

Beating a ranked team in the regular season for the first time in school history will surely help. Especially on the road in an ESPN BracketBuster game.

“For us it was a great opportunity to play a ranked team in their building,” Christian said. “It’s an excellent basketball team that I think will get to the postseason and do damage. For us it was a great opportunity to step up and solidify our season a little bit. But our whole goal is to win the MAC conference.”

Fisher’s clutch play down the stretch overshadowed a dominant performance by Diamon Simpson, who had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Gaels (23-4). Saint Mary’s had won six straight and was 14-0 at home this season.