Kent State beats rival Akron 70-65 for MAC title, NCAA bid

CLEVELAND -- Jaylin Walker scored 30 points, Jimmy Hall added 19 and sixth-seeded Kent State earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2008 by beating rival Akron in the Mid-American Conference championship game Saturday night.

The Golden Flashes (22-13) knocked off the tournament's top three seeds -- Buffalo, Ohio and Akron -- to win their sixth conference title. They barely advanced to Cleveland, needing overtime to edge 11th-seeded Central Michigan in the opening round.

But Kent State finally found its groove at Quicken Loans Arena and is headed back to the NCAAs for the sixth time.

"We knew if we played Kent State basketball that we would be able to do this," an emotional Hall said. "It…