The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Miami (Ohio)
Men's Basketball Dominates Second Half, Downs Miami (Ohio) 74-59
February 15 | Men's Basketball
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AKRON, Ohio – Chauncey Gilliam finished with 14 points to help Akron to a 74-59 win over Miami (Ohio) in a matchup between Mid-American Conference East Division foes on Wednesday night at Rhodes Arena.
Gilliam, who went 5-of-8 from the field for the game and scored 10 of his points in the first half, was one of two Akron (19-7, 11-1 MAC) players to finish with double-figure points. Demetrius Treadwell tallied 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go with a game-high eight rebounds for the Zips, while Zeke Marshall had nine points, seven rebounds and one blocked shot for UA.
Brian Sullivan paced four Miami (8-16, 4-8 MAC) players in double-digit points with 19 in 40 minutes of work.
Akron came out of the locker room on fire, hitting 4-of-6 shots to open the half. The quick start gave the Zips a 46-35 lead by the 15:26 mark. The 13-2 run was fueled by five Miami turnovers.
The Zips kept the pressure on the visiting RedHawks, not allowing the lead to dip below six points before pushing it back to 13 (53-40) with 9:29 left in the game. MU was able to cut the lead to eight (55-47) with 7:23 to go, but the Zips' defense held strong. Akron regained a double-digit advantage 59-47 with 5:08 left on the clock.
With Akron trailing 6-3 (16:21), the Zips used an 8-0 run to open up an 11-6 advantage. Entering the game off the bench, Treadwell gave the UA offense some energy by scoring six-straight points over a two-minute span to push Akron's lead to 17-10 (11:58).
Miami was able to hang around, hitting four of its first seven 3-pointers to remain two-back (20-18) of Akron with 10:06 remaining in the half. Nick Harney gave the Zips a 24-18 lead with 8:48 left before the intermission before the RedHawks rattled off 10-straight points to take a 28-24 lead (5:19).
Quincy Diggs regained the lead for the Zips with a steal and layup with 3:36 left thanks to a nifty wrap-around move at the rim to open up some space. The lead would be short-lived but Gilliam would tie the game with 1:34 to go to send the teams to the locker room knotted at 33-all.
Treadwell pitched in nine points and four boards in the opening stanza.
The Zips will take the weekend off from conference play to head to Tulsa, Okla., to face Oral Roberts in the 2012 Sears BracketBusters event. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. ET and the contest will air live on ESPN2.
Zips Notebook: Akron's 11-1 start in league play is the best by any MAC team since 2003-04 (Kent State) ... the Zips' win evened the all-time series with the RedHawks at 24-all and UA has now won nine straight versus MU at Rhodes Arena.
