Akron Falls at the Buzzer to Northern Illinois, 67-65

Tuesday, January 12

DeKalb, IL

3 PM ET | 2 PM CT

University of Akron

4-3,2-2MAC

Northern Illinois

2-9,1-5MAC

Akron

Northern Ill.

Akron Falls at the Buzzer to Northern Illinois, 67-65

January 12 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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DEKALB, Ill. – The Akron Zips fell 67-65 at Northern Illinois after NIU's Darius Beane buried a game winner over the outstretched arm of Akron's 6'8" forward Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ind.) at the NIU Convocation Center on Tuesday afternoon.

After leading for 27-minutes and some change, the Zips found themselves trailing by five points with 1:34 left in regulation. Ali drained a deep 3-pointer near the top right-side of the arc to bring Akron (4-3, 2-2 MAC) within two points. Moments later, senior guard Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) knotted the game 65-all as he nailed a shot at the right elbow of the free throw line, leaving six seconds on the clock for Beane's last second heroics.

After a pair of timeouts by both teams, NIU (2-9, 1-5 MAC) inbounded the ball to Beane, who took the ball to the top of the key, just inside the 3-point line, and blanketed by Akron's Ali. He let the shot fly and just over Ali's fingertips, and the field goal was good as he finished the game 2-of-11 from the field and six points.

Ali led Akron in scoring with a career-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor which included a 4-of-7 effort from beyond the 3-point arc. he added a second-best five rebounds and four assists. Junior Bryan Trimble, Jr. (Kansas City, Mo.) and Jackson followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Trimble also buried four trifectas, while Jackson hit one 3-pointer and dished-out a team-best seven assists and collected a team-high two steals. Sophomore Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) nearly notched a double-double with 11 rebounds and nine points.

The Zips opened the game with an 14-4 run and held the lead for 18:46 as the 10-point margin was Akron's largest lead of the game. NIU never held the lead in the opening frame, but managed to tie the game 18-18 with 9:24 remaining in the first half. Trimble gave the advantage back to Akron with a corner 3-ball and added another a couple possessions later.

in the final minute of the first half, NIU's Justin Lee cut the Zips' five-point lead to three points with a second chance bucket in the paint. Akron led 31-28 at the break.

NIU carried the momentum into the second half. After Jackson opened the second frame with a triple and Freeman followed with the first of two dunks for an 8-point Akron advantage, 36-28. The lead didn't last long as NIU knotted the game, 36-all behind a pair of long-range jumpers and two paint points. The Huskies added three consecutive triples and eventually grabbed its first lead of the game with 11:47 left to play in the game, 49-48. they increased the lead to as many as six points, 63-57, which setup the final sequence of the game.

NIU went 5-of-5 from long distance in the second half after opening the game with a 2-of-9 effort from deep before halftime. The Huskies received a combined 34 bench points from Lee, Chinedu Kingsley Okanu and Nathan Scott, who average 8.6 points combined on the season. Lee recorded a double-double with a career-highs in points (15) and rebounds (11), while Okanu and Scott contributed 10 and nine points, respectively – In addition, both players grabbed six boards apiece. Trendon Hankerson, the squads leading scorer, matched Lee's 15-point performance as the duo led the Huskies in scoring.

NIU outrebounded the Zips 41-33, while Akron won the turnover battle 11-15.

On Saturday, Jan. 16 the Zips return to James A. Rhodes Arena to host the MAC leading Toledo Rockets. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 PM. Fans can follow the action on ESPN+, 640 WHLO AM or GoZips.com.