The University of Akron Athletics
Zips Capture Come Back Win Over Rival Kent State
January 09 | Men's Basketball
- A late 8-0 scoring run - all eight coming from sophomore center Zeke Marshall - capped off a 65-62 come-from-behind win over rival Kent State for The University of Akron men's basketball team Saturday night in James A. Rhodes Arena. The game was the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.
With Akron trailing 53-55 and just over four minutes remaining, Marshall scored eight straight points on a rebound put-back, a pair of free throws, a jump hook, and an alley-oop slam to give Akron a lead it would not surrender.
The Golden Flashes would draw close in the final minute when Darius Leonard's 3-pointer from the top of the key banked in to make the score 63-62. Darryl Roberts calmly stepped to the line and nailed a pair of free throws to push the lead back to three and Michael Porrini's last ditch 3-pointer was off the mark, giving Akron the win and snapping a three-game losing streak to its neighborhood rival.
Marshall poured in 20 points and hauled in 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and also rejected three shots. Brett McKnight provided a steady scoring punch all night and totaled 19 points.
KSU opened the second half on a 20-8 run - building a nine-point advantage with 12:30 to play. McKnight then pushed the Zips back into the game. The senior scored seven straight points to pull Akron within two, 47-45, and igniting the crowd of 5,019. Steve McNees then answered a tip-in by KSU's Justin Mann with his second three-ball of the game to cut the Golden Flash lead to one.
A runner by Alex Abreu and a lay-up by Brett McClanahan put the Zips back in front, 53-52, with 5:28 to play - Akron's first lead since just over a minute into the second half.
Marshall capped off a back and forth first half with a ferocious one-handed slam off a feed from McKnight to give Akron a 30-27 advantage heading to the locker room. The opening half featured six lead changes and five ties. The inside scoring punch of McKnight and Marshall, with 11 and 8 points respectively, led the way for the Zips.
With the win Akron moves to 10-5 on the year and 1-0 in the MAC, while KSU drops to 9-6 and 0-1 in conference play.
The Zips continue with MAC play on Wednesday when they play host to Ohio at Rhodes Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET and the National Champion University of Akron men's soccer team will be honored at halftime.
Zips Notebook: Senior Mike Bardo moved into ninth on the UA career blocks list, with 54 ... It was the third career double-double for Zeke Marshall ... Seventh-year Akron head coach Keith Dambrot is now 6-1 in MAC home openers.
