The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Kent State
Men's Basketball Captures MAC Title and 61-55 Win Over Kent State
March 02 | Men's Basketball
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KENT, Ohio – The Akron men's basketball team clinched its first-ever Mid-American Conference regular-season championship with a 61-55 victory over neighborhood rival Kent State on Friday night at M.A.C. Center before a national ESPN2 television audience.
With the win, Akron (21-10, 13-3 MAC) secured the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament to be held at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. The Zips have earned a triple bye to the event's semifinal round and will play on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
The victory also gave the Zips one-half point in the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge standings, in which they now trail the Flashes 5.0-4.0.
Zeke Marshall led Akron with 12 points and seven rebounds, one of four Zips to score in double figures. Chauncey Gilliam also tallied 12 points, while Brian Walsh and Alex Abreu had 10 points each. Abreu also had a game-high five assists and two steals. Walsh managed three takeaways.
Michael Porrini led Kent State (20-10, 10-6 MAC) with 14 points and eight boards.
Down 27-18, Akron came out of the locker room a different team, scoring the first eight points of the second half to cut the deficit to 27-26 and force a KSU timeout (16:40). The Zips kept the pressure on, taking a 30-27 lead into the under-16 media timeout (15:28). That lead was the first for UA since the 18:21 mark of the first half (4-2).
The Zips pushed the run to 20-2 to start the half, taking a 38-29 lead on a Qunicy Diggs layup with 13:45 to go. By the 11:15 media timeout, the Zips were up 40-29 and riding a 22-2 run. UA forced six turnovers and shot 69.2 percent from the floor (9-of-13) during the run while committing just two turnovers.
Both teams began to trade point for the point, with Kent State closing the gap to five points (47-42) with 3:47 remaining. Gilliam's 3-pointer pushed the UA advantage back to eight (50-42) with 3:23 left in the game.
Akron would ice the game at the line, connecting on 7-of-8 free throws over the final 1:12 to capture the MAC title.
With the game tied 6-all at the 16:36 mark of the first half, Kent State used a 6-0 run to grab a 12-6 advantage by the 15:15 mark. The Zips committed two turnovers that led to two of KSU's three baskets.
The Akron deficit grew to eight points at 18-10 (11:20) as both teams struggled with ball control. Through the first 12:37 of the first half, the two squads combined for 15 turnovers (Akron 9, Kent State 6).
The Zips began to claw their way back into the game, using an 8-0 run to tie the game at 18-18 with 5:07 to go before intermission. Brett McClanahan ended an 8:23 field goal drought for the Zips at the 6:18 mark before Abreu's steal and layup tied the game at 18-all.
Kent State would score the half's final nine points to take a 27-18 advantage into the locker room.
The Zips closed the half shooting just 29.1 percent from the floor (7-of-24) while committing 14 turnovers. The Golden Flashes finished the opening 20 minutes shooting 50.0 percent (12-of-14), but were forced into 10 giveaways.
Zips Notebook: The victory was No. 500 for the Zips as a Division I program ... Alex Abreu, with five assists, broke Dru Joyce's (126, 2004-05) sophomore assists record (128) ... the regular-season sweep of Kent State is the first by the Zips since the 2006-07 season, the same season Akron last won at Kent State [66-64 (OT), March 4, 2007].
