Zips Dominant in Fifth Straight Win

Wednesday, December 15

Dayton, OH

7 PM

University of Akron

7-3,0-0MAC

Wright State

2-7,1-1Horizon

Akron

Wright St.

December 15 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Zips Dominant in Fifth Straight Win
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Box Score PDF | Box Score

Dayton, Ohio – The Akron Zips led for 38-minutes in a dominant 66-48 win on the road over Wright State at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday evening.

Three players registered double-digit scoring performances for Akron (7-3) led by sophomore forward Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ind.). Ali recorded a game-high 19 points on 7-of-12 (.583) shooting from the floor, including a 2-of-3 (.667) effort from deep. Junior guard Bryan Trimble, Jr. (Kansas City, Mo.) followed with 15 points and junior guard Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) tallied 14 points.

Akron scored the first five points of the game as Castaneda buried back-to-back buckets, one in the lane and one from deep. Wright State (2-7, 1-1 Horizon) answered with a 7-0 run, but 25-seconds later, Trimble hit a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key and Akron never trailed again. Trimble hit three of the Zips' six trifectas in the first stanza, leading Akron with nine first-half points en route to a 35-23 lead at the break.

Zips outscored the home team 15-6 early in the second half fueled by six points from Trimble. Castaneda added seven points in each half, while Ali scorched the Raiders for 14-second half points. Ali went 2-of-2 from beyond the 3-point arc in the final 20-minutes and only had one miscue as he finished the game with a 5-of-6 ledger.

Akron controlled the glass, outrebounding the home team 37-26 as sophomore forward Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) and freshman guard Garvin Clarke (Euclid, Ohio) secured eight rebounds apiece.

In his first collegiate start, freshman center Aziz Bandaogo (Senegal, Africa) grabbed seven boards and dished out a team-high three of the Zips' 11 assists.

The Zips defense limited Wright State's Tanner Holden to 12 points as he entered the game averaging a team-best 19.8 points per game. WSU's Grant Basile followed with 11 points, 7.8 points shy of his average, as the Zips forced tough shots throughout the game.

Akron returns to James A. Rhodes Arena for the final regular-season non-conference game of the season on Monday, Dec. 20th, hosting Radford for a 7 p.m. tilt. Fans can follow the action on ESPN+ or listen to Akron Sports Radio Network on WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen (PxP) and Joe Dunn (analyst). Live stats are also available on GoZips.com.