Ali, Castaneda and Freeman Lead Zips Back to the Win Column

Saturday, February 19

3 PM

University of Akron

17-9 (10-6MAC)

Eastern Michigan

9-18 (4-12MAC)

Akron

Eastern Michigan

Ali, Castaneda and Freeman Lead Zips Back to the Win Column

February 19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Ali, Castaneda and Freeman Lead Zips Back to the Win Column
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Box Score PDF | Box Score

Ypsilanti, Mich – The Akron Zips snapped a three-game setback streak on Saturday afternoon, defeating Eastern Michigan 67-48 behind three double-digit performances from Sophomore Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ind.), Junior Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) and Sophomore Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) at the EMU Convocation Center.

Ali scored a team-high 17 points with nine points coming in the second half, while Castaneda and Freeman collected 15 points each. Freeman grabbed eight rebounds and Castaneda secured seven. Junior Michael Wynn (Albany, N.Y.) added a season-high nine points.

Akron led wire to wire as the Zips (17-9, 10-6 MAC) opened the game with a 7-0 run and extended the lead to as many as 15 points before the first half ended. Castaneda contributed 11 points in the opening stanza on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor, including a 3-of-5 effort from deep and five rebounds. Freeman followed with 10 points and four rebounds to go along with two blocked shots and was responsible for a tip-in at the end of the half that gave the Zips the largest lead before the break, 39-24.

The Zips defensive efforts limited EMU to shoot just 10-of-30 in the initial 20 minutes. Eagles also struggled from deep, connecting on three triples on 15 attempts. Akron went 15-of-27 (.556) from the floor, 4-of-8 (.500) from deep and 5-of-6 (.833) from the free throw line.

In the second half, Akron lead never dipped below double-digits and Akron used it's best scoring run (nine points) to push the lead to a 19-point advantage by the mid-point. The Zips close-out the game with the same point differential.

Noah Farrakhan led the Eagles (9-18, 4-12 MAC) with a game-high 21 points. The Zips' defense did not allow any other EMU player to score more than six points, limiting the home team to shooting just 20-of-56 (.357) from the field and 4-of-22 (.182) from deep.

Akron won the battle in the paint 28-20 and outrebounded EMU 36-30.

UP NEXT
The Zips return to a normal two-game week, hosting Bowling Green on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 and travels Athens, Ohio to battle the MAC-leading Bobcats on Friday, Feb, 25 on CBS Sports Network at 6 p.m. to Fans can also follow the action on Akron Sports Radio Network on WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen (PxP) and Joe Dunn (analyst) or live stats on GoZips.com.