The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
7-2
Coppin State
0-11
Akron Cruises to 22nd Consecutive Win at the JAR, Defeating Coppin State 87-63
December 07 | Men's Basketball
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AKRON, Ohio- The University of Akron Men's basketball team secured its 22nd consecutive victory at James A. Rhodes Arena on Wednesday night, with an 87-63 victory over Coppin State. The win marked career win number 285 for Zips' head coach Keith Dambrot, just four wins away from becoming the winning-est coach in program history.
Junior guard Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) led the way for the Zips (7-2), scoring a career high 20 points, adding five rebounds and four assists. Four other Zips scored in double figures with sophomore guard Josh Williams (Akron, Ohio) and senior center Isaiah Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio) chipping in 15 and 14 points, respectively. Junior guard Antino Jackson (Houston, Texas) and freshman guard Tavian Dunn-Martin (Huntington, W. Va.) rounded out the double figure scorers with 12 points apiece. Senior forward Kwan Cheatham, Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio) tied his career high with 12 rebounds and added three assists and three blocks.
Keith Shivers led the way for the Eagles (0-11), scoring 13 points and collecting 6 rebounds and Dejuan Clayton added 12 points.
For the contest, the Zips shot 57 percent (29-of-51) from the floor and connected on 46 percent (12-of-26) from beyond the three-point line. From the free throw line, Akron shot 68 percent (17-of-25). The Zips also registered a season-high 10 blocks. The Eagles shot 39 percent (25-of-6) from the field and hit 47 percent (8-of-17) of their outside shots. Coppin State converted 50 percent (5-of-10) of their free throws.
The Zips continued their impressive shooting from outside, with Williams and Jackson connecting from beyond the arc early in the first half to put the Zips up 8-3 with 16 minutes remaining. Williams found the bottom of the net again from three to force a Coppin State timeout, with Akron ahead 11-3.
Williams hit his fourth three of the first half with 11:34 remaining, putting the Zips ahead by a score of 21-11. Jackson scored four straight points, then Ivey followed with a corner three to push the Akron lead to 33-19 with just under six minutes in the first half.
Dunn-Martin got in on the action with a three-pointer of his own, followed by a breakaway dunk by Ivey that gave the Zips a 42-25 lead with two minutes left to play in the opening half. Akron entered the halftime break maintaining a 44-29 lead over the Eagles.
Isaiah Johnson scored eight of the first 14 points in the second half for the Zips and freshman Michael Hughes II (Liberty, Mo.) continued the dominance in the paint, putting the Zips ahead 64-42 at the 12-minute media timeout.
Antino Jackson connected on another triple and freshman Emmanuel Olojakpoke (Houston, Texas) protected the paint with rejections on three consecutive Coppin State possessions to set a new career-high of four blocks in a game. The Zips used a slurry of free throws to sustain their lead and held a 78-53 advantage with five minutes remaining in the contest.
Dunn-Martin and junior Craig Eubanks (Cleveland, Ohio) hit consecutive triples to increase the Akron lead to 87-57 with just over a minute remaining to secure the Akron victory.Â
Akron will travel to Spokane, Wash., for a showdown with West Coast Conference member and the No. 8/8 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m. ET The game will be televised by ROOT Sports. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via live stats.
