Jason Edwin

Jason Edwin playing key role for Kent State Golden Flashes

By Dean Greenaway

Whether it has been triggering runs for victories, leading all scores, rebounding or playing as much as 37 minutes, Huntums Ghuts’ Jason Edwin — a senior guard on the Kent State University Golden Flashes and the only player with BVI connections playing basketball at the NCAA Division I level—is playing a key role for his team. In his last outing on December 11, when the team took an 11-day break before resuming play on Dec 22, Kent State rallied from a 19-point second half deficit to defeat Cleveland State 71-68, and Edwin was a key factor in that game.

DeAndre Haynes paced four Golden Flashes in double figures with 20 points, 14 coming in the second half, as the Golden Flashes 8-2, won its sixth straight game. Edwin scored nine of his 12 points in a 24-7 second half run. The comeback matched a similar 19-point turnaround the Flashes pulled off Feb. 3, 2003 against Miami and is the biggest second-half comeback by Kent State since a 15-point reversal at Southern Missouri State on Nov. 29, 2003. The Golden Flashes’ six-straight wins are the most since a 10-game streak last season.

“We went to a smaller, quicker lineup in the second half, to try and cause some turnovers and spread the floor,” third-year coach Jim Christian said. “After a sluggish first half we wanted to attack more in the second half and the guys stepped up when we needed it.”

Cleveland State (3-2) held a 10-point advantage at halftime, 39-29, a lead that quickly grew to 19 points as Kent State committed turnovers on four straight possessions to start the half that the Vikings converted into nine points. But an Edwin jumper with 1636 to play ignited the run that took Kent State from 48-29 down to 55-53 with 910 to play.

In the run, Kent State held Cleveland State scoreless for more than five minutes as Edwin hit four field-goal attempts and Haynes scored three straight lay ups before Macrus Crenshaw capped the run with a three-pointer from the top of the key. From there, Kent State stayed within five points for the remainder of the game before pulling out the victory. 

In his lead up game on Dec. 7, Edwin had 10 points in what was the biggest road victory in Kent State men’s basketball history, when the Golden Flashes knocked Creighton from the unbeaten ranks with a 67-58 win in front of 10,563 fans in Nebraska.

On Dec. 1, Edwin matched his career-high with 25 points to lead the Kent State to its fourth straight win, 81-72, against league foe Central Michigan University in the Mid-American Conference opener. Edwin was joined in double figures by junior forward Kevin Warzynski with a season-high 20 points and junior guard Jay Youngblood with 11 markers, for the Golden Flashes winners of their last eight conference openers. Edwin scored 13 points in the opening period and 10-of-15 (.667) from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range.

Before going 8-0, Kent State dropped its second straight contest, 64-59, at Old Dominion University on Nov. 22. The Golden Flashes led 55-46 with 806 to play, but went scoreless for nearly the next seven minutes, while Old Dominion pushed to the lead and eventually the victory. Edwin scored a team-high 17 points, but the Golden Flashes could not overcome 34.4 percent shooting and 18 turnovers.

Two days later, the Golden Flashes—home for the Thanksgiving Day holidays—took advantage by racing past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 76-58 in their home opener as all five starters scored in double figures. Edwin scored a game-high 16 points, nine coming in a five-minute stretch to open the second half that saw Kent State take an 18-point lead. In the 14-6 run, Edwin hit two three-pointers that keyed a 60.7 (17-of-28) percent shooting performance in the second half. Along with Edwin, Kent State’s other starters ­ Jay Youngblood (15), DeAndre Haynes (13), Scott Cutley (10) and Kevin Warzynski (10) ­ each posted double figures in scoring.

Coming off that home victory, Kent State went on the road and made history, though it took 44 years, but the Golden Flashes finally knocked off an ACC team with a 69-59 victory against Florida State Seminoles in the third round of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times Challenge. The Golden Flashes got 14 points apiece from Armon Gates and DeAndre Haynes, as Kent State picked up its first win against an ACC team since a 79-65 victory against Clemson in 1960.

Leading by eight points with 343 to play, the Seminoles cut the lead to four points, 61-57, as Kent State went scoreless for three minutes. But Edwin grabbed a crucial offensive rebound, Gates was fouled with 042 left. He then made the first of four straight free throws that moved KSU back in front by eight, 65-57 with 27 seconds remaining.

It was the second straight game that Kent State had five players in double figures in scoring. Led by Gates and Haynes, Warzynski added 13, Edwin tallied 12 and Cutley chipped in with 11. Edwin and Cutley also recorded a game-high seven rebounds, while Haynes had a season-high eight assists and did not commit a turnover.