Tribble, Ali Make Big Plays in Final Moments for 57-56 Season Finale Win, Akron Earns Four Seed in MAC Tournament

Friday, March 4

Akron, Ohio

7 PM

University of Akron

21-9,14-6MAC

Central Michigan

7-22,6-12MAC

Central Mich.

Akron

Tribble, Ali Make Big Plays in Final Moments for 57-56 Season Finale Win, Akron Earns Four Seed in MAC Tournament

March 04 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Tribble, Ali Make Big Plays in Final Moments for 57-56 Season Finale Win,
Akron Earns Four Seed in MAC Tournament

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Boxscore PDF | Boxscore

AKRON,Ohio – Down six points with just over two minutes remaining, the Akron Zips didn't blink and scored 12 of the game's final 17 points to claim a 57-56 win over Central Michigan in their regular-season finale at James A. Rhodes Arena on Friday.

Sophomore guard Greg Tribble (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied the winning points on a pair of free throws with 32 seconds remaining after a key steal by sophomore forward Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ind.) with 48 seconds remaining set up Tribble's heroics.

A pair of missed foul shots with 10 seconds left on the clock gave the Chippewas one final shot, but CMU freshman guard Kevin Miller missed a layup and Zips' junior point guard Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) snared the rebound to close out the victory.

Castaneda led the Zips (21-9, 14-6 MAC) with 17 points and seven rebounds and Ali added 12 in the win.

It was a game played at a slow, defense-first pace as both sides dig in and forced one another to work for every shot.

Akron trailed for much of the evening, but overcame a three-point halftime deficit thanks to key turnovers it converted into points on the other end.

For the night, the Zips caused 12 turnovers while committing just seven of their own. Every possession was key on a night where they shot just 38.6 percent and 59.1 percent from the foul line.

They also battled their way to a 29-28 rebounding edge and allowed Central Michigan (7-22, 6-12 MAC) to grab just four offensive rebounds.

Senior forward Harrison Henderson led the Chippewas with 17 points in defeat and senior forward Ralph Bissainthe contributed 14 in the loss.

With the win, Akron secured the fourth seed in the upcoming 2022 Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Zips are slated to play the fifth-seeded Buffalo Bulls on Thursday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, approximately 1:30 p.m.