Akron Sizzles in 81-60 Road Win at Miami

Tuesday, January 21

Oxford, Ohio

7 PM

University of Akron

15-4,5-1MAC

Miami

8-11,1-5MAC

Akron

Miami (OH)

January 21 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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Oxford, Ohio – The Akron Zips earned their third Mid-American Conference road win in convincing fashion on Tuesday night, defeating Miami 81-60 at Millett Hall.

Akron (15-4, 5-1) turned in another elite shooting performance as four Zips notched double-digits in scoring led by junior Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) with 20 points. Jackson shot 61.5 percent from the field (8-of-13), including an 80 percent showing from beyond the 3-point arc (4-of-5).

Senior Xeyrius Williams (Springfield, Ohio) followed with 19 points, a game-high seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Williams hit five triples, while senior Tyler Cheese (Albany, Ga.) collected 18 points, dished out a team-best five assist and had two steals.

Senior Channel Banks (Las Vegas, Nevada) rounded out the Zips double-figure scoring with 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 performance from long distance with five rebounds.

The Zips open the game with four consecutive triples, two apiece by Jackson and Williams. Cheese added an old-fashioned 3-point play and Banks fired in a 3-ball as the Zips led 20-11 by the under-12 media break. The Zips were 5-of-7 from long distance at that point and firing on cylinders.

Akron continued the aerial assault, cashing in three more times from deep, and by the 7:02 mark, was shooting 66.7 percent from deep (8-of-12) en route to an 18-point advantage, 33-15.

The Zips led by as many as 21 points, before Miami (8-11, 1-5) scored in the final 35-seconds, to take a 43-24 advantage into intermission. Cheese finished the initial 20-minutes with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 effort from the charity stripe. Williams and Jackson had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

In the second half, Miami scored the initial bucket, but Banks followed with a transition three from the left wing. Williams added a three from the opposite side and Akron was in the midst of another run.

The Zips built the lead to as many as 27 points, however the home team narrowed the margin with a 11-2 run fueled by a pair of 3-pointers by Isaiah Coleman-Lands and five points from Elijah McNamara. The Zips responded with back-to-back layups from Cheese and junior Jaden Sayles (Cincinnati, Ohio) for a 20-plus point cushion and cruised to victory.

Akron shot 75 percent from downtown in the second stanza on 6-of-8 shooting from deep. The Zips finished the game shooting 52.6 percent from the floor (30-of-57) and 58.3 percent from long range (14-of-24).

Dae Dae Grant led the RedHawks scoring efforts with 16 points and McNamara finished with 11 points.

Akron won the battle of the boards 37-26.

Akron will continue the divisional road swing at Ohio on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 3:30 p.m. The game is scheduled to be broadcasted on ESPN3 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.