The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Basketball Tops Miami In Closing Seconds
February 20 | Men's Basketball
OXFORD, Ohio – A put-back dunk by Quade
Milum and a pair of game-clinching free throws by Cedrick
Middleton gave the University of Akron a 56-52 win over Miami
(Ohio) on Tuesday in a Mid-American Conference game at Millett
Hall.
Miami (13-12, 7-6) saw its four-game win streak at home come to an
end, while it was the first victory by Akron (19-7, 9-4) in Oxford
since Jan. 24, 2001. The win also helped the Zips maintain their
second-place position in the MAC East Division standings.
The dunk by Milum, who finished with six points, came with 36
seconds remaining, and Middleton converted the free throws with one
second on the clock to ice the victory. Middleton led Akron with 18
points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, and became the 35th
player in school history to surpass 1,000 points. He now has 1,015
in his UA career.
A layup by the RedHawk's Tim Pollitz with 21 seconds remaining would have evened the score at 54, but the basket was waved off due to an offensive charge. A quick foul by MU sent Akron's Nate Linhart to the line with 17 seconds to play. He missed the front end of the one-and-one opportunity and Tyler Dierkers grabbed the defensive rebound to give Miami one final chance.
MU's Kenny Hayes shot a jumper with six seconds remaining, but
UA's Mike Bardo blocked the attempt and Chris
McKnight picked up the defensive rebound for the Zips with four
seconds to go. The ball worked its way to Middleton, who was
fouled, and he hit both attempts from the line for the final
margin.
Miami led 47-45 with 6:22 to play, but a 3-pointer and a jumper by Chris McKnight put the Zips back ahead 50-47 with 4:38 remaining.
Chris McKnightcontributed 10 points and six rebounds for the Zips, while Nick
Dials had eight points and two of the team's season-low five
assists. The Zips shot 46.5 percent (20-of-43) from the field for
the game, including making 4-of-6 attempts from behind the 3-point
line during the second half. UA was 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from
behind the arc for the night.
Tim Pollitz led Miami with 18 points and a game-high seven
rebounds, while Kenny Hayes added 13 points for the RedHawks, who
shot 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from the field and 60 percent
(6-of-10) from 3-point range for the game.
The score was tied at 27 at halftime. Akron had its biggest lead of
the opening period 25-21 after Middleton hit a 3-pointer with 5:13
to go, but was held without a field goal for the remainder of the
half and Miami was able to catch up.
Akron returns home on Saturday to face VCU as part of O'Reilly
ESPNU BracketBusters. The game will tip off at 11 a.m. EST and be
televised by ESPN2.
