Akron Falls to Davidson, 91-78

Monday, December 25

Honolulu, HI

12:30 p.m.

University of Akron

6-5

Davidson

5-6

AKRON

Davidson

December 25 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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Honolulu, Hawaii – The Akron Zips opened the Christmas Day game with the lead, but a 30-point effort from Davidson's Kellan Grady propelled the Wildcats to a 91-78 win at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Monday.

Akron led for nearly 10 minutes at the beginning of the game until the contest went back-and-forth with seven lead changes and five tied scores. With 3:23 left to play in the first half, back-to-back field goals by Davidson gave the Wildcats a five-point, 37-32, advantage. Akron freshman Virshon Cotton (Milwaukee, Wisc.) narrowed the margin with two free throws, but Davidson's Grady ended the half with a layin, giving the Wildcats a 39-34 lead at the break. It was Grady's sixth point of the game.

In the second half, Grady exploded with 24 points, scoring nine-straight to open the frame and give Davidson a 14-point advantage, 48-34. Akron lowered the deficit to single digits on several occasions, but couldn't get closer than seven points.

Three Zips scored 20-plus points led by junior Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) with 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor that included a 5-of-8 performance from deep. He added a perfect 4-of-4 showing from the charity stripe with a team-high seven assists, four rebounds, and two assists.

Sophomore Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) followed with 22 points and a team-best nine rebounds with two assists, a steal, and a blocked shot. Utomi buried 7-of-15 shots, including a 4-of-10 effort from downtown and a 4-of-5 effort from the free throw line.

Fifth-year senior Malcolm Duvivier (Toronto, Canada) added 21 points to the mix on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-12 from deep.

The shot 49.0 percent from the field (25-of-51) and 40.0 percent from beyond the 3-point stripe, while Davidson boasted a 53.2 shooting percentage from the floor (33-of-62) and 46.4 percent from downtown (13-of-28). Both teams hovered around 80.0 percent from the foul line, Akron (14-of-18) and Davidson (12-of-15).

Davidson held a slight edge on the glass 29-28, but won the turnover battle committing only six compared the Zips' 15.

Akron will close out the non-conference schedule on Friday, Dec. 29 at James A. Rhodes Arena against Concord at 7 p.m.