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Men's Basketball Uses Strong Defensive Effort to Down Kent State, 61-52
February 10 | Men's Basketball
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AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips went on a 19-4 run mid way through the second half to pull away from the Kent State Golden Flashes, 61-52, in the first round of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge on Tuesday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.
The win was the Zips' ninth-in-a-row at home overall. Akron has now won at least 13 games at Rhodes Arena in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
Pat Forsythe scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and recorded two blocked shots to lead the Zips. Deji Ibitayo came off the bench to score 11 points to go with five rebounds and an assist. Noah Robotham added another nine points and four assists.
Akron (17-7, 8-3 MAC) shot 40.0 percent from the field (22-of-55) and 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from beyond the arc for the game. Kent State (16-8, 7-4 MAC) was held to 35.4 percent (17-of-48) and 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from long range.
Devareaux Manely led the way for the Golden Flashes scoring 20 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Akron and Kent State both pressured the ball defensively early on the contest. Akron held the Golden Flashes to 2-of-9 shooting in the first five minutes of the game (22.2 percent), while Kent State forced three early turnovers by the Zips.
Halfway through the first half, Akron led Kent State, 16-9, with all 16 of Akron's points scored inside the paint.
The Zips rattled off nine-straight points to give them an early 19-9 lead. Ibitayo capped off the scoring run by splitting a pair of free throws with 8:03 to play in the first half.
Kris Brewer made a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and KSU came back quickly with a 7-0 run to cut the Akron lead to three (19-16) at the 4:59 mark.
KSU would tie the game at 21 with 3:41 to play in the first half but could not regain the lead since holding a 5-4 advantage at the 15:40 mark.
Akron did not make a 3-point attempt in the first half (0-of-5) but led Kent State 25-23 at halftime.
Kwan Cheatham, Jr. made Akron's first 3-pointer of the game at the 18:50 mark but Kent State answered with three-straight from long range from Manley and Chris Ortiz to cut the deficit to two, 34-32.
The Zips answered with a 10-1 run to extend their lead to 17 (58-41) when Robotham stole the ball at half court and found Nyles Evans cutting to the basket for the lay-up.
The Akron advantage would not drop below nine in the last eight minutes of the game on the way to an Akron victory.
The Zips head back on the road for a one-game road trip to Ypsilanti, Mich., to take on the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Tip off is set for 2:30 p.m. ET.
Zips Notebook: For the 32nd time in the last 35 Akron-Kent State games, the first team to 60 points won (Akron) ... the Zips earned 0.5 points in the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge and now trail Kent State, 4.0-2.0 ... Akron Athletics held a moment of silence prior to tonight's game to honor the late Ken Cunningham, who passed away on Monday ... Cunningham coached the Zips men's basketball team from 1977-80 during the program's transition from Division II to Division I.
