BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Villa Maria College men's basketball team were at home on Wednesday to host Kent State at Tuscarawas. It is a rematch of their early game on February 9 when the Vikings fell by a final score of 88-72 to the Golden Eagles. Unfortunately, the final of today's matchup saw Villa lose at home to Kent State 79-70. The Vikings now hold a record of 12-10 on the season with one game remaining in the regular season. 
 
Villa got off to a strong start with Rhalon Bragg and Trent Cordone hitting three-pointers to open the game. After an 11-11 tie with 13:25 to play, the Vikings began to make a push starting with a Bragg jump shot and Jeriah Williams layup to go ahead by four points. A few moments later, Williams converted back-to-back layups, and Nolan Shephard knocked down a jump shot to bring the lead to double-digits, 24-14 with 10:26 on the clock. Their largest lead came with around five minutes to play, when they went ahead by 14 on two occasions. Despite a Kent State push, Villa was still ahead 42-31 at halftime. 
 
The advantage was once again pushed to 14 three minutes into the second frame, and they kept it at double-digits until the 14:37 mark. The two teams began to trade makes and the Golden Eagles chipped away at their deficit. Villa saw their lead dwindle and at the 6:06 mark the score was tied again and a minute later, Kent State went ahead by three. The Vikings were unable to answer the scoring by the opposition and fell by a final score of 79-70. 
 
Shephard led the way in scoring with 19 points and eight rebounds, while also having two steals and three assists. Williams added 19 points of his own to go along with seven rebounds, three steals and two assists. Bragg contributed 14 points, four assists and four rebounds. Cordone also finished with double-digit scoring with 10 points. 
 
The Vikings wrap up their regular season on Tuesday, February 22 as they welcome Bryant and Stratton Rochester to town for a 6 p.m. game. 
 
Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Viking's scores and news by following @VillaVikings on Twitter, @villavikings on Instagram and by liking the "Villa Maria Vikings" Facebook page.