Dominant First Half Leads Akron To 72-49 Win Over NIU, Zips Take Over Sole Possession Of First Place

Tuesday, January 14

DeKalb, IL

8 PM

University of Akron

14-3,4-0MAC

Northern Illinois

9-8,2-2MAC

Akron

Northern Ill.

Dominant First Half Leads Akron To 72-49 Win Over NIU, Zips Take Over Sole Possession Of First Place

January 14 | Men's Basketball

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DeKalb, Ill. – The Akron Zips moved to 4-0 in Mid-American Conference play behind two spectacular performances on the road from senior Tyler Cheese (Albany, Ga.) and junior Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) for a 72-49 victory over Northern Illinois at the NIU Convocation Center on Tuesday evening.

Cheese led Akron in scoring with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor and 3-of-6 from deep. He collected 16 points in the second half and added seven rebounds and two assists.

Jackson did his scoring in the first half, recording 17 points en route to a 24-point halftime advantage. Jackson dished out a team-best eight assists and registered three steals.

Senior Xeyrius Williams (Springfield, Ohio) rounded out the Zips double-digit scoring with his sixth double-double of the season. Williams finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

In the first half, it took two minutes for the initial bucket as Jackson buried a deep triple and senior Deng Riak (Melbourne, Australia) followed with a rebound and put back. Moments later, Jackson drained a second 3-pointer to cap an 8-0 run to open the game.

NIU (9-8, 2-2 MAC) missed eight consecutive buckets as Akron's suffocating defense forced tough shots. It wasn't until the 15:09 mark when the Huskies scored their first points on a fastbreak by Eugene German, who finished as NIU leading scorer with 17 points.

The Zips followed with a barrage of 3-pointers as Jackson, Williams and Cheese all cashed-in from deep. Akron (14-3, 4-0 MAC) opened the game shooting 6-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc, but went 2-of-7 for the rest of the half.

With the half winding down and the Zips controlling the scoreboard, Jackson drove the lane for a layin to lift Akron to a 41-20 advantage. Jackson stole the NIU inbounds pass and with 2-seconds remaining added an old-fashioned 3-point play to lift Akron to a 44-20 halftime lead. Jackson scored 17 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The Zips shot 53-percent from the field (16-of-30) in the opening frame which included a 57-percent effort from long distance (8-of-14).

The Huskies opened the second half with a 9-0 run before Cheese broke Akron's scoring drought with a pair of free throws, 46-29. Despite the interruption, NIU continued to cut into the Zips lead, scoring nine more unanswered points and reducing Akron's lead to single digits, 46-38.

Again, Cheese answered with 11 of the Zips next 13 points to put Akron in front, 59-40. Cheese started with three consecutive lay-ins mixed with a Riak dunk, before capping the 13-2 run with a triple from the right-wing. With 9:04 remaining in regulation Akron led 59-40.

Cheese scored 16 second-half points as the Zips cruised to a 72-49 victory. Akron finished the game shooting 47.4 percent from the floor (27-of-57) and 39.3 from deep (11-of-28). Akron held a 9-10 advantage in the turnover battle, but NIU outrebounded the Zips 50-41.

Akron will be back at Rhodes Arena to defend their homecourt winning streak against Toledo on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. The Akron women's game will follow at 4:30 as the Zips host Northern Illinois. Both contests are scheduled to be broadcasted on ESPN+ and can be heard on at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/AkronZips. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats.