The University of Akron Athletics
Late Threes Key Men's Basketball Win Over Bowling Green
January 23 | Men's Basketball
- A pair of late 3-pointers and a solid defensive effort in the closing minutes keyed The University of Akron men's basketball team to a 63-58 win over Bowling Green on Saturday night in a Mid-American Conference contest at Rhodes Arena.
Darryl Roberts and Steve McNees each knocked down a triple in the final two minutes of the game and the Zips held the Falcons scoreless for over five and half minutes down the stretch, turning a 48-44 deficit into a 51-44 advantage en rout to the win.
Roberts led all scorers with 17 points, while McNees added 10 for Akron (11-8, 2-3 MAC). Jordon Crawford posted a team-high 16 points for Bowling Green (8-11, 3-2).
The win was the 150th for seventh-year Akron head coach Keith Dambrot. It was also Dambrot's 170th win as a MAC coach, tying him for ninth on the all-time MAC wins list.
The Falcons would open the second half on a 11-3 run - a Roberts trey the only Akron scoring - to take a 38-37 lead with 11:55 to go in the game. It was the first lead of the game for BGSU.
Bowling Green opened the lead to 48-44 before four-straight points from Zeke Marshall - a jump hook from the right block and a slam off a feed from McNees - tied the game at 48-all with just under five minutes to play.
Roberts then buried a three from the right corner - his third trey of the game - to put the Zips back in front with just under two minutes to play. The Akron defense then forced the Falcons into their 20th turnover of the game and McNees nailed a three from the top of the circle to make the score 54-48 with just under a minute remaining.
Akron then made 9-of-10 free throws to keep the game out of reach.
Akron used a 9-1 run to take 27-18 lead with 5:53 to go in the first half. The Zips' lead stretched to 10 on Brett McClanahan's three-ball from the top of the key before BGSU was able to cut the margin to five. Quincy Diggs' fast break lay-up just beat the halftime buzzer to give UA a 34-27 advantage. The Zips forced 12 Bowling Green turnovers in the first half, turning them into 13 points.
Akron will return to action on Wednesday, traveling to Northern Illinois for a 7:30 p.m. ET tip. The game will be televised on SportsTime Ohio.
Zips Notebook: Zeke Marshall moved into second on the sophomore blocks list, with 46 ... Dambrot is the just the third Akron coach to win 150 games, joining Russell Beichly (286 wins) and Tony Laterza (178) ... It was the fourth-straight win over Bowling Green for UA ... Brett McClanahan tied a career high with four assists.
