The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Toledo
Men's Basketball Drops 84-67 Road Decision at Toledo
January 09 | Men's Basketball
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TOLEDO, Ohio – The Akron Zips dropped an 84-67 road decision to the Toledo Rockets on Friday night at Savage Arena in a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional matchup.
Nyles Evans finished the night with 13 points. Pat Forsythe added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
For the game, Akron (10-5, 1-1 MAC) shot 40.4 percent from the field (23-of-57) and 29.6 percent form long range (8-of-27). Toledo (9-6, 1-1 MAC) closed the night hitting 56.3 percent from the floor (27-of-48) and 81.8 percent from behind the arc (9-of-11).
The Zips were called for 26 fouls to Toledo's 15 and were out-rebounded, 35-27. UT shot 32 free throws to UA's 15.
J.D. Weatherspoon led four Toledo players in double figures with 17 points.
The Zips came out hot from outside, hitting three of their first four shots from beyond the arc to take an 11-5 lead into the first media timeout. An 8-0 run by the Rockets would give Toledo its first lead of the game (13-11) with 13:25 on the first-half clock.
The teams would trade baskets, with neither gaining more than a two-point advantage. Evans' third 3-pointer of the first half would send the Zips into the under-8 media timeout with a slim 23-21 lead (7:49). The advantage would grow to 28-23 lead with 5:48 to go in the half.
With the Zips down two, Noah Robotham cleaned up a miss to tie the game at 34-all with less than three seconds left. However, Weatherspoon would hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Toledo a 37-34 lead at the half.
Evans led the Zips with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc, but missed several minutes after being called for two early fouls.
Toledo scored the first six points of the second half to take a 43-34 lead, but the Zips would answer with five-straight to close the gap to 43-39 on a Jake Kretzer 3-pointer (16:58).
Toledo would open a 51-41 lead with 14:29 to go in the game before the Zips began to chip away at the deficit. Antino Jackson's contested 3-pointer with 12:06 to go would close the gap to 53-49.
Every time the Zips closed the gap, the Rockets would respond. Evans would foul out with 7:31 to go after scoring his 13th point, but was called for a technical foul. The Rockets would push their lead from 66-57 to 71-57 over the next minute (6:25).
The Rockets would lead by as many as 17 points late in the game before downing the Zips, 84-67.
The Zips return home to open a two-game home stand on Wednesday, Jan. 14, against Bowling Green. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Zips Notebook: The loss snapped a three-game road winning streak at Savage Arena for the Zips ... the loss is just the third in the last 27 regular-season games against MAC West opponents for the Zips.
