CLEVELAND -- Jimmy Hall scored 24 points including the last two at the free throw line as Kent State held off Buffalo 68-65 in a squeaker of a Mid-American Conference quarterfinal on Thursday night, ending Buffalo's two-year reign as MAC Tournament champions.
The Golden Flashes (20-13), winners in eight of their last nine games, advance to play Ohio (20-10), the MAC second seed, in the semifinals on Friday.
Kent State was nursing a 66-65 lead and was awarded possession after a loose-ball scramble, and the Bulls fouled Hall with 12.9 seconds left. The senior, who now has 1,600 career points, made both.