Tough Stretch for the Zips, NIU Uses Late Game Surge for the Win

Thursday, February 17

Akron, Ohio

7 PM

University of Akron

16-9,9-6MAC

Northern Illinois

8-16,5-9MAC

Northern Ill.

Akron

Tough Stretch for the Zips, NIU Uses Late Game Surge for the Win

February 17 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Tough Stretch for the Zips, NIU Uses Late Game Surge for the Win
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Box Score PDF | Box Score

AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips led for 33:30 minutes but dropped a 66-63 decision to visiting Northern Illinois with a late scoring surge in a rescheduled game from earlier this season at James A. Rhodes Arena on Thursday night.

The two Mid-American Conference foes traded leads in the latter portion of the second half and the Zips (16-9, 9-6 MAC) appeared to have seized control with four straight points by sophomore guard Greg Tribble (Cincinnati, Ohio) to break a 54-all tie and give Akron a 58-54 edge with 2:47 remaining.

However, the Huskies scored the game's next nine points to go ahead by four with 42.1 seconds left. A key Akron turnover in the final minute short-circuited its attempts to wrest the lead away from the visitors.

Sophomore forward Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ind.) led Akron with 20 points in the game and fellow sophomore forward Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) tallied eight points and 11 rebounds.

The opening half was full of high-level defense, contested shots and few buckets for either side. The Zips led throughout, but were unable to pull away due to nine turnovers that yielded 11 points for the Huskies (8-16, 5-9 MAC). Additionally, 4-of-9 shooting at the foul line left points on the table and the 25-22 Akron advantage at the break was due largely to its ability to stifle the Huskies on the other end.

Northern Illinois shot just 32.1 percent (9-of-28) from the field in the first 20 minutes. While the Huskies committed just three first-half turnovers, they struggled to get on a roll offensively and made just one 3-pointer prior to intermission.

Sophomore guard Keshawn Williams led Northern Illinois with 15 points and junior guard Kaleb Thornton had 12.

Akron concludes a travel-heavy week on Saturday with a 3 p.m. road tilt in Ypsilanti, Mich. against Eastern Michigan on ESPN3. The Zips will be playing for the third time in five days in three different states, looking to defeat the Eagles for the second time this season.