The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
26-8
Buffalo
20-14
Zips Fall to Buffalo on Final Shot, 64-61
March 12 | Men's Basketball
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MAC Men's Basketball Tournament CentralÂ
CLEVELAND, Ohio – In a game where the outcome of the contest came down to one final shot, the University of Akron's aspirations for its fifth automatic NCAA Tournament berth were denied by a three pointer with three seconds remaining from Blake Hamilton which lifted Buffalo (20-14) to a 64-61 victory over the Zips (26-8) inside Quicken Loans Arena.
Akron must now await the NCAA Tournament selections on Sunday, March 13, to see if its 2015-16 resume is worthy of an at-large selection to the 68-team field.
Akron had one final attempt at a game-tying shot but the inbounds heave was intercepted and the contest ended in a 64-61 Bulls' triumph.
Sophomore Antino Jackson directed the Zips with a team-high 14 points, while junior Isaiah Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio) added 12 points off the bench.
C.J. Massinburg led the Bulls' offensive efforts scoring a game-high 18 points, while Hamilton contributed a 14-point, 11-rebound outing.
Akron finished the game shooting 39.0 percent from the field, including making 13 three pointers. Buffalo connected at a 37.7 percent clip and made 10 triples.
The Bulls jumped to the early advantage in the title tilt leading 12-5 after a three pointer at the 14:52 mark by Willie Connor.
The two sides exchanged baskets before Buffalo again drained a triple by Massinburg to go ahead 17-7 with 11:18 to play.
Junior Kwan Cheatham, Jr. ended the run connecting on a three pointer at the 10:54 mark to pull Akron to within seven, 17-10.
The Bulls went up 22-10 before Akron mounted a 13-4 run over the next 4:15 to cut its deficit to three, 26-23, following a lay-up by sophomore Noah Robotham (Las Vegas, Nev.) at the 5:04 mark. Johnson scored six points in the scoring spurt, while Jackson added a key triple.
The Zips twice cut the deficit to one point before freshman Josh Williams (Akron, Ohio) dialed long distance for a triple with 10 seconds remaining in the half to send the contest into the intermission all square at 33.
Johnson led Akron a team-high 10 points in the opening stanza, while Massinburg made a trio of three pointers and paced all scorers with 15 points.
The Zips connected on 41.9 percent of their attempts in the opening 20 minutes, while Buffalo shot 36.7 percent from the field.
The two teams exchanged the first four baskets to open the final half before the Bulls went on an 14-0 run to go ahead 49-35.
Akron followed with a 6-0 run as part of an overall 18-5 sporting spurt to move to within one, 54-53, following a triple from McAdams at the 7:46 mark.
The Zips hit six three pointers in the run, including three, two and one, respectively, from senior Reggie McAdams (Elida, Ohio) and Jake Kretzer (Bainbridge, Ohio) and Williams.
The Zips took their first lead of the game, 55-54 on a lay-up by Johnson at the 6:51 mark.
The Bulls responded with four unanswered tallies to regain the lead, 58-55, before a Jackson triple with 2:58 remaining tied the game at 58.
He followed with a 25-footer from the top of the arc to extend Akron's lead to 61-58 at the 2:13 mark.
Hamilton then nailed a triple at the other end to square the contest at 61.
After the Zips were whistled for a foul with 23 seconds remaining the shot clock reset for the Bulls before Hamilton nailed what proved to be the game-winning shot.
After the championship battle, the league announced the 2016 MAC All-Tournament team. Zips' center, Isaiah Johnson, All-Tournament honors by averaging 18 points per game on 61-percent shooting over Akron's three-game tournament run. Johnson notched his fifth double-double of the season with 19 points and 16 rebounds in a 65-63 win over Eastern Michigan. Big Dog averaged 9.33 rebounds per contes, pulling down 28 total boards.Â
ALL-MAC TOURNAMENT TEAM:Â Â
Isaiah Johnson - Akron
Antonio Campbell - Ohio
Lamonte Bearden - Buffalo
Willie Conner - Buffalo
C.J. Massinburg - Buffalo
 MAC TOURNAMENT MVP: Willie Conner - Buffalo
