The Kent State men’s basketball team started fast, but faded and fell 70-62 at Bowling Green on Saturday.

Fresh off an upset win over previous Mid-American Conference unbeaten Buffalo on Tuesday, the Golden Flashes blitzed the Falcons in the early stages of Saturday’s contest. They scored the first 11 points, and led 29-10 after a layup by freshman BJ Duling with five minutes left in the first half. 

But Bowling Green (14-9, 5-5 MAC) cut the deficit to seven by halftime, then outscored the Flashes (12-11, 6-4) 46-31 in the second half to pick up their second straight MAC win.

Junior center Adonis De La Rosa and junior guard Jaylin Walker scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds each to pace Kent State. De La Rosa shot 7-of-11 from the field but committed five turnovers with no assists, while Walker hit 5-of-13 3-pointers and 7-of-17 field goals overall.

Junior point guard Jalen Avery added 11 points, four rebounds and two assists with no turnovers in 33 minutes. 

After scoring 20 or more points in five straight games, senior guard Kevin Zabo did not crack double-figures for the second straight game. Zabo was held to five points on 1-of-5 shooting and committed four turnovers. Sophomore forward Danny Pippen who scored a career-high 21 points against the Bulls, missed his only field-goal try and fouled out with one point and six rebounds in 24 minutes.

Kent State, which had won three straight,  finished with game with seven assists and 15 turnovers. 

After the Falcons rallied to take the lead, Walker hit a 3 to tie the contest at 56 with five minutes remaining. A dunk by junior forward Demajeo Wiggins put Bowling Green ahead to stay and triggered a key 8-1 run by the hosts, and the Flashes never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

Kent State returns to the M.A.C. Center on Tuesday to face Eastern Michigan (13-10, 4-6) at 7 p.m.