Akron Falls 87-75 in MAC Opener at Western Michigan

Tuesday, January 2

Kalamazoo, MI

7 PM

University of Akron

7-6, 0-1MAC

Western Michigan

9-5, 1-0MAC

AKRON

Western Michigan

Akron Falls 87-75 in MAC Opener at Western Michigan

January 02 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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Kalamazoo, Mich. – The Akron Zips started strong in the first Mid-American Conference game of the season, but the home-standing Western Michigan Broncos pulled away for an 87-75 win at University Arena on Tuesday night.

Akron (7-6, 0-1) jumped out to an early lead as senior transfer Malcolm Duvivier (Toronto, Ontario) started the scoring with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Duvivier led the Akron offense with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including a 4-of-11 effort from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Zips pushed the lead to as many as five points and held the lead for six minutes until the Broncos (9-5, 1-0) captured the lead for good at the 13:35 mark. WMU's Josh Davis scored 10 of the Broncos initial 14 points en route to a game-high 26 point performance. He finished the game shooting 10-of-10 from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 from deep with seven rebounds.

Akron battled to keep the game within reach and a pair of free throws from sophomore Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) narrowed the Zips' deficit to six points, 35-29, with 2:32 left to play in the first half. Utomi finished the game with 11 points and five rebounds.

The Broncos used the remaining 2:30 in the half to rattle off a 12-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer as time expired by Thomas Wilder. WMU lead 47-31 at the break.

In the second half, junior Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) tried to provide a spark by nailing a 3-pointer to open the frame. Duvivier followed with a conventional 3-point play, but Akron was unable to gain any more ground early in the second half. Ivey rounded out Akron's double-digit scorers with 18 points while providing seven assists, five rebounds, two blocked shots, and a steal. Freshman Torrey Patton (Cincinnati, Ohio) added eight points and a team-best six rebounds.

Western Michigan had four others to reach double figures in scoring as Thomas Wilder led the supporting cast with 15 points followed by Bryce Moore (13), Reggie Jones (12), and Drake Lamont (11).

Four consecutive made free throws from Ivey put the game back to a single-digit deficit, but on the next possession, Davis split a pair of freebies to give WMU a 10-point advantage, 79-69, with 2:46 left to play in the game. WMU held on to the lead until time expired.

The Zips shot 44.3 percent from the field (27-of-61), including an 80.0 percent showing from the free throw line (12-of-15) and 33.3 percent effort from downtown (9-of-27).

The Broncos held a plus-10 advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Zips 37-27, and made a high percentage of field goals, shooting 55.4 percent from the field (31-of-56) and 47.4 from deep (9-of-19). In addition, Western Michigan snapped a six-game losing streak to Akron.

The Zips will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 5 against Toledo Rockets. The game is scheduled to air on CBS Sports Network at 6:30 p.m. from Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio.