The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
11-3 (1-0)
Bowling Green
6-8 (0-1)
Akron Wins MAC Opener, Dambrot Becomes Akron's All-Time Winningest Coach
January 03 | Men's Basketball
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Akron, Ohio – The Akron Zips opened their 25th season of Mid-American Conference play with an 89-84 win over Bowling Green at James A. Rhodes Arena on Tuesday.
With the win, 13th-year head coach Keith Dambrot recorded his 289th win to become Akron's all-time winningest coach. In addition, the Zips extended their home-court winning streak to 24 games, which is the third longest winning streak in the country behind Kansas (50) and Oregon (35).
For the game, Akron (11-3, 1-0) shot 56.6 percent (30-of-53) and 45.5 (10-of-22) from beyond the 3-point arc, and the Zips defense limited the Falcons (6-8, 0-1) to shooting just 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from long distance. Akron won the battle of the boards 31-23 while recording 10 second-chance points and earning 21 points from the bench.
Junior guard Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, while senior Isaiah Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted a career-best eight assists to go along with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Ivey added six boards, two assists and two blocks. Also scoring in double figures for the Zips were senior Kwan Cheatham, Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio) and sophomore Josh Williams (Akron, Ohio) with 18 and 11, respectively.
The Falcons' Demajeo Wiggins led BGSU with 21 points, while Zack Denny, Antwon Lillard, and Ismail Ali all poured in 16 points and Wes Alcegaire had 10 points.
Falcons started the game with an 8-0 run, but Akron quickly erased the deficit with a 10-0 run of its own. The Zips got on the board with a layup by Johnson, followed by a post move from Cheatham. Ivey continued the scoring with a triple from the corner, while Cheatham found the bottom of the net from long distance with the shot clock expiring.
The Falcons and Zips continued the back-and-forth battle through the first half. With 2:18 left, Tavian Dunn-Martin (Huntington, W.Va.) dished an alley-oop to  Emmanuel Olojakpoke (Houston, Texas) pushing the Zips to regain the lead, 34-33. After a steal from Olojakpoke, Dunn-Martin fired a three adding on to Akrons' 37-33 lead. Akron ended the half with a 37-35 lead over Bowling Green.
In the opening 20 minutes, Akron outrebounded Bowling Green 20-13, and managed to shoot 48.3 percent (15-of-31), including a 33.3 percent (4-of-12) effort from downtown. Ivey led the first half scoring with nine points followed by Cheatham's seven points. Johnson and Dunn-Martin contributed six points each.
Bowling Green shot 50.0 percent (15-of-30) from the field in the initial stanza, but the Zips held them to just 11.1 percent (1-of-9) from beyond the arc. Wiggins led the falcons first-half scoring with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the paint.
Akron carried the momentum into the second half as Ivey led the attack with 14 points. The seesaw battle continued until the 16-minute mark when a Johnson dunk sparked a 10-0 run. Johnson followed with two more buckets in the paint before Ivey buried two free throws and lifted an alley-oop pass to Cheatham, who finished on the rim for a 56-46 Zips' advantage.
The Falcons didn't go away that easy as BGSU used a 13-4 run to cut Akron's lead to one-point, 60-59, by the under-8 media break. A free throw by Antino Jackson (Houston, Texas) and back-to-back lay-ins by Ivey ended the run and pushed the Zips' lead back to six points. Once again, Akron their way back to a 10-point spread, 77-67, with 4:12 showing on the clock. BGSU's last effort to regain the lead fell short as Cheatham buried two free throws with 1:33 left to play, giving Akron a 83-77 advantage. The two teams traded buckets and Ivey iced the game with two additional shots from the charity stripe.
The Akron basketball team will continue Mid-American Conference play, hosting Western Michigan for the second conference showdown of the season on Friday, January 6, at James A. Rhodes Arena. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by CBS Sports Network (CBSSN). Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via live stats or by Zips' radio broadcast on Akron-IMG Sports Network available at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/Akron Zips.
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