Akron Records First Road Win, Defeats Bowling Green, 81-79

Tuesday, February 20

Bowling Green, OH

7 p.m.

University of Akron

12-15 (5-10MAC)

Bowling Green

16-12 (7-8MAC)

AKRON

BOWLING GREEN

Akron Records First Road Win, Defeats Bowling Green, 81-79

February 20 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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Bowling Green, Ohio – Sophomore Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) dropped a game-high 29 points and junior Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) buried a floater in the lane to send Akron to its first road win of the season, 81-79, over Bowling Green at the Stroh Center on Tuesday night.

In a game that featured 27 lead changes and 12 tied scores, Akron (12-15, 5-10 MAC) called timeout with 20 seconds on the game clock to set up what proved to be the game-winner. Trailing 79-78, Ivey inbounded the ball to Utomi at the top of the key. Utomi drove the ball into the lane and Ivey cut across, receiving a handoff from Utomi, and sending a floater into the air that found the bottom of the net for an 80-79 Akron lead with 11 seconds left in the game.

Bowling Green's Dylan Frye had a pretty good look from long distance in the closing seconds but the shot missed the mark, and Demajeo Wiggins couldn't get the putback to fall.

Akron junior Lucas Smith (Omaha, Neb.) corralled the loose ball and split a two-shot foul to give Akron an 81-79 advantage.

Utomi led Akron's scoring efforts with 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including a 4-of-7 effort from deep and 9-of-10 showing from the free throw line. Utomi added five rebounds, three assists, and three steals to the box score as two other Zips followed with double-digit performances.

Graduate transfer Malcolm Duvivier (Toronto, Ontario) finished the game with 14 points, four assists, and a steal, while Ivey cashed in with 12 points and added a career-best three blocked shots to four rebounds, an assist, and a steal. In addition, Smith notched a career-high nine points.

The Zips shot 52.1 percent from the field (25-of-48) and 41.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (7-of-17) while connecting with 80 percent of their shots from the free throw line (24-of-30). Akron won the turnover battles 11-14 and recorded seven steals compared to the Falcons four.

Bowling Green (16-12, 7-8 MAC) had four double-digit scorers led by Frye's two dozen points. He buried 8-of-13 of his shots from the floor, including a 5-of-7 performance from downtown. Wiggins followed with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Justin Turner collected 15 points and Antwon Lillard chipped in 11 before fouling out.

The Falcons won the battle of the boards 34-26 while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor (28-of-59) and 30.4 percent from deep (7-of-23). Bowling Green added a 69.6 effort from the charity stripe (16-of-23).

In the first half, Akron limited the Falcons to 18.2 percent shooting from behind the 3-point arc (2-of-11) despite a 51.6 effort from the floor (16-of-31). Akron battled to a three-point lead at the break, 41-38, on 58.3 percent shooting from the floor (14-of-24).

The Zips will be back in action at James A. Rhodes Arena on Saturday, Feb. 24 against the Miami RedHawks. The rematch is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and will air on ESPN3 with Michael Reghi calling the action and Jacki Windon providing analysis. Fans can also follow the game on 1350-AM or GoZips.com via live stats.