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Toledo
Men's Basketball Falls to Toledo, 68-66, in the Final Seconds
February 18 | Men's Basketball
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AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips took a late lead, but a Julius Brown jumper with 1.7 second remaining game visiting Toledo a 68-66 win on Wednesday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.
With 7.2 seconds Toledo inbounded the ball to Brown who dribbled to his left, stepped back and knocked down the fade-away jumper to give the Rockets a 68-66 lead with 1.7 seconds to play.
Jake Kretzer threw an inbounds pass to Kwan Cheatham, Jr., who spun and threw up a prayer that landed short to give the Rockets the victory.
Antino Jackson led Akron (17-9, 8-5 MAC) with a career-high 14 points, adding three assists and two rebounds. Deji Ibitayo scored 11 points off the bench to go with four rebounds and a steal. Pat Forsythe, Aaron Jackson and Reggie McAdams scored eight apiece.
From the field, Akron shot 39.3 percent (24-of-61) from the floor for the game and just 27.6 percent (8-of-29) from beyond the arc. Toledo (17-9, 9-4 MAC) shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field, but connected on just 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from long range.
Brown led all players with a game-high 21 points, five rebounds and two assists.
In the first start of his career, Antino Jackson opened up the game hitting his first two shots from beyond the arc. Toledo hit their first four shots to give the Rockets an early 8-6 lead three minutes into the game.
Although Akron trailed, the Zips continued to battle throughout the half to stay in the game. McAdams would tie up the ball game at 15 at the 11:15 mark with a pair of free throws.
The Rockets would extend their lead to nine (30-21) with a short 6-0 run, with Toledo's Zach Garber ending the spurt with a lay-up off an assist from Jonathan Williams.
With 3:15 to go the first half, the Akron defense stepped up and the offense found some rhythm. The Zips went on a 7-0 run to cut the nine-point deficit to two (33-31). Aaron Jackson started the run with a 3-pointer from the corner and Antino Jackson finished it with a pair of free throws.
The two-point difference would remain at the half, with Toledo leading, 38-36.
The tough battle continued in the second half. Toledo led by four points after Brown made a lay-up. Akron tied the game up again at 40 when B.J. Gladden found Isaiah Johnson open for the lay-up with 17:52 to play.
Akron took their first lead of the game since the 18:05 mark in the first half with the help of Antino Jackson. He stole the ball at the foul line and took it all the way for a hard two points. The next possession, he pushed the pace and found McAdams in the corner for a 3-pointer.
The Zips and Rockets would exchange the lead back-and-forth six times in a nine-minute span. Neither teams lead would extend past three points.
With the game tied at 61-all heading into the final minute, Toledo got an open look from beyond the arc but the shot fell short. Akron got the ball to Pat Forsythe down low, but he could not connect on the contested lay-up. The miss would set up Brown's game winner.
The Zips play host to Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, Feb. 21, at James A. Rhodes Arena as part of a double-header with the woman's basketball team. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Zips Notebook: Antino Jackson made his first collegiate start in place of Noah Robotham ... Robotham has been battling the flu all week and was a last-minute scratch prior to the game ... Akron has lost three-straight games to Toledo for the first time since losing 11-straight from 1972-96 ... the lost was just the sixth at Rhodes Arena for the Zips since the start of the 2011 MAC schedule (34-6).
