Freeman Leads Zips, Akron Collects Third Win in Five Days

Tuesday, February 8

7 PM

University of Akron

16-6,9-3MAC

Northern Illinois

6-15,3-8MAC

Akron

Northern Ill.

Freeman Leads Zips, Akron Collects Third Win in Five Days

February 08 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Freeman Leads Zips, Akron Collects Third Win in Five Days
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DeKalb, Ill. – For the second time this season, the Akron Zips played three games in five days and came away with three wins as the Zips defeated Northern Illinois, 70-64, on the road behind a 21-point performance by sophomore Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) on Tuesday.

Freeman registered his 13^th double-double of the season by adding a game-high 13 rebounds. His performance marks the second double-double and second 21-point performance in five days while grabbing double-digit rebounds all three games. Sophomore Greg Tribble (Cincinnati, Ohio) and junior Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Akron led by as many as eight points early in the first half fueled by back-to-back dunks and a pair of layups from Freeman. Huskies closed the gap with an 8-2 run, but the Zips continued to control the scoreboard 21-19 with 7:59 remaining. The Zips maintained the two-point advantage into halftime, 35-33, as Freeman led the Zips with 12 points and six rebounds. The Huskies stayed close with long-range shooting, connecting on 5-of-11 (.455) from deep, despite only shooting 52.2 percent from the floor (12-of-23).

Zips opened second half on a 7-2 run and tightened up the perimeter defense, only allowing the Huskies two 3-point field goal attempts by the 3:14 mark. Akron kept the lead throughout and led for 38:34 minutes. Akron finished the game shooting 52.5 percent from the floor (21-of-40), including a 40.0 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc (6-of-15) and a season-high 84.6 percent from the free throw line (22-of-26) as Freeman went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.

The Huskies were led in scoring by Keshawn Williams (19), Trendon Hankerson (14) and Anthony Crump (11) in defeat.

UP NEXT
The second installment of the Crystal Clinic Orthopeadic Wagon Wheel Challenge is ondeck as the Zips host rival Kent State on Friday, Feb. 11 on ESPN2. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. 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.