The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Basketball Tops Bowling Green 71-45 in MAC Opener
January 10 | Men's Basketball
AKRON, Ohio - Jimmy Conyers scored 16 points to help the University of Akron men's basketball team to a 71-45 defeat of Bowling Green on Saturday at Rhodes Arena in the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.
Conyers's point total came on the strength of a 6-for-10 showing from the field, including a 3-for-3 performance from 3-point distance. He also had a team-high six rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and one steal. Steve McNees tallied 11 points, nine of which the junior scored from 3-point range in the second half when he nailed 3-of-3 attempts from long range. Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens and Chris McKnight each chipped in with 10 points, with McKnight pulling down five boards and Hitchens dishing a game-high five assists to round out Akron's top performers.
Akron (11-4, 1-0) connecting on 42.9 percent of its field goals (24-of-56) and the same percentage from 3-point distance (9-of-21), but made 14-of-23 (60.9 percent) attempts from the floor and 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) 3-pointers in the second half. The Zips held Bowling Green (7-6, 0-1) to 27.7 percent (13-of-47) from the field for the game and outscored the Falcons 39-17 after halftime. The Falcons committed 21 turnovers (13 in the first half), which UA turned into 28 points.
A back-and-forth affair in the early going, the Zips used a 15-4 run in the final 4:33 of the first half to take a 32-28 lead into the locker room. UA extended its lead to 17 points (54-37) with 8:20 remaining, thanks to a 22-9 run that effectively put the game out of reach.
BGSU's Joe Jakubowski led all scorers with 17 points and was the only player in double figures for the Falcons, who had a two-game win streak snapped.
Akron, which has won in seven of its last eight and 11 of its last 13 outings, opens a two-game road swing on Wednesday (Jan. 13), when it travels to Athens, Ohio to take on the Ohio Bobcats. Tip off at Convocation Center is set for 7 p.m. ET.
