Zips Defense Dominant in Third Straight Road Win, Castaneda Scores 32

Saturday, January 21

Kalamazoo, MI

2:30 PM

University of Akron

13-6,5-1MAC

Western Michigan

6-13,2-4MAC

Akron

Western Mich.

Zips Defense Dominant in Third Straight Road Win, Castaneda Scores 32

January 21 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Another stifling defensive performance by Akron led to its third consecutive road win as the Zips defeated Western Michigan 63-55 on Saturday at Read Fieldhouse.

Senior Xavier Castaneda led the Zips scoring with 32 points, his third 30-plus point effort of the season. Castaneda swiped three of the Zips eight total steals and grabbed seven rebounds. Junior Enrique Freeman led the team on the glass, securing 11 rebounds and junior Greg Tribble added nine points while graduate Trendon Hankerson grabbed six rebounds.

Akron (13-6, 5-1 MAC) scored 16 points off turnovers, forcing Western Michigan (6-13, 2-4 MAC) into 15 total miscues. The Zips swarming defense limited the Mid-American Conference's third leading scorer, Lamar Norman Jr. (19.1 ppg), to score only six points in the contest. Norman attempted only three field goals in the first half to finish the initial 20 minutes with only one point. The Zips forced Norman into five turnovers as he ended the game shooting 2-of-8 from the field and 1-of-6 from deep as Tribble was the primary defender for Akron.

Akron only connected with 36.5 percent for their shots from the field (23-of-63), while collecting 22 points in the paint. The Broncos edged the Zips on the glass 47-31 which led to 11 second chance points.

Akron used a 9-2 run to take a 16-8 early in the game, and the advantage grew to 25-16 by the 7-minute mark. After a pause in action, the Broncos used an 8-0 run to cut the Zips lead to one point (25-24) and the home team eventually knotted the game 30-30 before the break. Castande

Castaneda scored the Zips final xx points and held Norman without a field goal 0-3 with one point. Zips caused 10 first-half turnovers en route to 11 points from the Broncos miscues. Five steals, three by Castaneda drilled a stepback jumper from the top of the key as time expired to give Akron a 32-30 halftime advantage.

Broncos open second half on 7-0 run to take a brief lead by as many as five points 39-34, but the lead didn't last as Akron came roaring back with six unanswered points. The Zips eventually reclaimed control of the scoreboard 42-41 and outscored WMU 21-14 the rest of the way.

Akron will be back in action at home, hosting Miami on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. and Ohio on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. Saturday's game is part of a #MACtion doubleheader as the women follow with a 5 p.m. tipoff against Buffalo.