Akron Earns First Road Win at Bowling Green, 69-57

Tuesday, January 19

Bowling Green, OH

7 PM

University of Akron

6-3,4-2MAC

Bowling Green

10-4,6-2MAC

Akron

Bowling Green

Akron Earns First Road Win at Bowling Green, 69-57

January 19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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Bowling Green, Ohio – The Akron Zips collected their first road win of the season and knocked-off their second consecutive top-ranked Mid-American Conference opponent as junior Bryan Trimble, Jr. led the Zips to a 69-57 win over Bowling Green.

The Zips (6-3, 4-2 MAC) handed the Falcons (10-4, 6-2 MAC) their second league setback as Trimble, Jr. drained 3-pointer after 3-pointer at crucial moments, finishing with 18 points. He went 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from deep and four rebounds.

Senior Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) added 16 points, six assists and six rebounds, while sophomores Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) and Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ohio) each had 10 points. Freeman registered a double-double by adding 14 rebounds.

In the first half, Akron jumped out to a 11-3 start with Trimble collecting the Zips first five points. The Falcons answered with a 16-5 run to take a brief 3-point advantage, 19-16 at the 6:52 mark.

The two teams battled back and forth from that point until the Zips closed out the first half with a pair of triples from junior Michael Wynn (Albany, N.Y.) for a 28-21 halftime advantage. Akron largest lead of the initial stanza was nine points 14-5 and the Zips held the lead for 17:07 in a half that featured two lead changes and two tied scores.

Both defenses blocked a pair of shots as Akron caused eight BGSU turnovers with three steals with sophomores Greg Tribble (Cincinnati, Ohio) collecting two steals and Jermaine Marshall (Birmingham, Ala.) having one. Freeman and senior Camron Reece (Oakland, Calif.) registered the blocked shots. The Falcons turned the Zips over 10 times with five steals.

In the second half, the Akron extended its lead to the largest of the game 36-23, but the Falcons followed with a 9-0 run, cutting the Zips lead to just four points, 36-32.

Trimble ended BGSU's scoring outburst with a mid-range jumper and Reece issued a strong move in the post to lift the Zips to a five-point cushion, 40-35.

However, the Falcons scored the next seven straight points to help regain control of the scoreboard as Justin Turner capped a 10-3 run with a pair of free throws, 45-43 at the 9:44 mark.

The lead didn't last long as Trimble tied game with another mid-range jumper and reclaimed the lead with a trifecta from the left wing. He followed with a second triple to lift Akron to what proved to be the final lead of the game, 51-45.

The Zips increased lead to as many as 13 points, 63-50, fueled by six points from Jackson and four points from Freeman, including an aerial feed from Tribble to Freeman. Reece put an exclamation point on the victory as Jackson hit him with a full court pass and finished with an uncontested dunk for the 69-57 road win.

The Zips controlled the glass, out rebounding the Falcons 49-38, while finishing the contest with seven blocked shots and five steals.

Daeqwon Plowden and Kaden Metheny led the Falcons with 14 points apiece, while Turner notched 13 in defeat.

The Zips will play three regular season conference games this week with the second of the 3-game stretch at home game against Central Michigan on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. The Zips wrap-up the week with a road trip to Western Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 5 p.m. Fans can follow the action on ESPN3/+, WHLO 640 AM or GoZips.com.