Akron Punches Ticket to Cleveland in Thrilling Fashion Against Broncos, 79-78

Monday, March 5

Kalamazoo, MI

7:45 P.M.

University of Akron

13-18, 6-12MAC

Western Michigan University

17-15, 9-9MAC

Team	1	2	F
AKRON	31	48	79
Western Michigan	35	43	78

Akron Punches Ticket to Cleveland in Thrilling Fashion Against Broncos, 79-78

March 06 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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Kalamazoo, Mich. – The No. 11 seed Akron Zips men's basketball team outlasted the No. 6 seed Western Michigan Broncos, 79-78, in a rollercoaster of an opening round Mid-American Conference Tournament game on Monday night at University Arena.

The Zips overcame an 18-0 start and 23-point first half deficit to advance to the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio at Quicken Loans Arena.

Western Michigan (17-15, 9-9 MAC) flew out of the gates, knocking down three consecutive 3-pointers for a 9-0 run and forcing Akron (14-18, 6-12 MAC) to spend an early timeout at 17:10. When play resumed, the Broncos tacked-on one more triple to take a 12-0 advantage into the first media timeout. The Broncos opened the game with seven shots all from behind the arc and made four.

Sophomore Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) ended Akron's eight-minute scoring drought with a baseline drive and finish for the Zips' first two points with 11:54 showing on the clock. The Zips didn't score again until the 10:36 mark to make it 21-4.

Western Michigan kept their foot on the gas, rattling-off six more unanswered points to take their largest lead of the game at 23-points, 27-4, at the under-8 media break.

From there the momentum dramatically switched sides as Utomi buried a trifecta that sparked a 17-0 run in the Zips' favor. Akron stepped up the defensive effort during the onslaught, collecting three consecutive steals, two in a row by freshman Eric Parrish (Cypress, Texas) and one by freshman Virshon Cotton (Milwaukee, Wisc.). All three steals led to breakaway layups.

Akron continued to push the pace by crashing the glass and causing turnovers. Two more steals led to six quick points as Utomi swiped the ball and found Cotton for a triple, and Cotton swiped the next pass and found Utomi for a long ball to cut the deficit to six points, 27-21.

The final three minutes of the half went back-and-forth, and with eight seconds remaining graduate transfer Malcolm Duvivier (Toronto, Ohio) buried two bonus buckets to end the half with the Zips down four points, 35-31.

In the second half, Akron immediately cut the WMU advantage to one-point on a Utomi 3-pointer, and a second 3-pointer by Utomi kept the score at one, 42-41 WMU. After a missed shot, Utomi drove the baseline to give Akron their first lead 43-42 at the 16:23 mark. The Zips increased the lead to 48-45 by 15:01, outscoring the Broncos 17-10 in the first five minutes.

The Zips pushed the lead to as many as 12 points, 66-54, after a Utomi three, but immediately following junior Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) was whistled for his fifth foul with 6:16 remaining in the game.

Akron held on to the lead until the closing minutes when a Cotton 3-pointer gave Akron a 77-70 advantage with 45 seconds remaining in the game.

The Broncos battled back with one last desperate push, and regained the lead, 78-77, with 6.4 seconds left. The 8-0 run started with three consecutive free throws from Reggie Jones. WMU's Thomas Wilder stole the ensuing pass and ran it out for a layin with less than 16.6 seconds remaining.

As the Zips inbounded the ball and pushed it up the floor Josh Davis picked the ball out of the air, and Bryce Moore kissed a 3-ball off the window to give Western Michigan a 78-77 lead with 6.4 seconds showing on the clock.

Cotton flew up the court for Akron with his sights on getting to the rim and was fouled during his pursuit. Cotton knocked down both free throws to give Akron their final lead 79-78.

Utomi led Akron's scoring with 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including a 6-of-9 effort from downtown. Cotton followed for the Zips with 21 points. Wilder led the Broncos with 21 points.

The Zips are scheduled to resumes MAC Tournament play in Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday, March 8 at approximately 9 p.m. against the No. 3 seed Eastern Michigan. Fans can also follow the action on ESPN3, 1350-AM or GoZips.com. For tickets, visit http://GoZips.com/Tickets . #OneAKRON