Men's Basketball Falls 64-61 at Northern Illinois on Wednesday

Wednesday, January 21

8 pm

University of Akron

Northern Illinois

Men's Basketball Falls 64-61 at Northern Illinois on Wednesday

January 21 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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DeKALB, Ill. – Akron could not overcome a 10-point second-half deficit as the Zips would fall 64-61 at Northern Illinois on Wednesday night in a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional match-up.

The Zips struggled from the field all night, shooting 36.7 percent from the floor (22-of-60) and 31.1 percent from long range (9-of-28). NIU closed the game shooting 51.2 percent from the floor (21-of-41).

Kwan Cheatham, Jr., led Akron (12-6, 3-2 MAC) with 13 points and four boards before fouling out late in the game. Deji Ibitayo was the only other Zip in double figures, ending the night with 10 points.

Travon Baker led Northern Illinois (8-8, 2-3 MAC) with 21 points.

NIU opened the game on a 11-2 run, holding the Zips to 1-of-6 from the field (16.7 percent) and three turnovers. Akron would call a timeout at the 14:43 mark. Aaron Jackson would end the drought with a 3-pointer on UA's next possession.

Trailing 17-7 with 11:31 to go in the first half, the Zips stepped up their effort on both ends of the floor. Akron would score six-straight points while forcing three NIU turnovers to trim the deficit to 17-13 by the under-8 media timeout (7:54).

Reggie McAdams would tie the game at 18-all with 6:25 to go in the half on his first bucket of the game. NIU would call its first timeout to try and slow down Akron's 11-1 run. The timeout worked, as the Huskies would push their lead to seven (27-20) over the next two minutes.

The NIU lead would remain at seven points (33-26) at the intermission. The Zips struggled offensively, shooting 35.7 percent from the floor (10-of-28) and committed nine turnovers in the first half. The Huskies shot 52.2 percent from the floor in the half (12-of-23).

Akron closed the gap to 35-34 on a McAdams' 3-pointer from the corner as the Zips opened the half on an 8-2 run.

The Zips kept the defensive pressure on, forcing NIU to open the half 0-of-5 from the field and forcing two turnovers. Cheatham would give Akron its first lead of the game at 39-37 with 14:09 to go. NIU would tie the game on its next possession, sinking its first bucket of the half.

The NIU lead would grow to seven (46-39) with just over 11 minutes to go before an Antino Jackson 3-pointer ended the UA drought.

Akron would be forced to call a time out with 6:28 to go, looking to end a 15-5 run buy NIU to take a 54-44 advantage.

Following two Ibitayo free throws and a 3-pointer by Cheatham, the Zips would trail by five (54-49) with 4:35 to go. Following a NIU turnover, Ibitayo made it a three-point game at the charity stripe.

After both teams traded buckets on their next possessions, but the Zips would get no closer than three points the rest of the game.

The Zips will conclude their two-game road trip on Saturday when they face Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, Mich. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. ET.

Zips Notebook: Nyles Evans had a career-high nine steals (Akron only) ... the loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Akron over Northern Illinois ... Akron fell to 8-8 in DeKalb ... the Zips have lost eight-straight true road games dating back to last sesason.