AKRON, OHIO – The Akron Zips ended a two-game losing streak, defeating the Eastern Michigan Eagles 51-49 in a low-scoring defensive affair Tuesday night at Rhodes Arena.
“It was a great win for us. We played with physical and mental toughness for 40 minutes.” Zips head coach John Groce said. “The players wanted to help each other and it showed today.”
With Akron (10-7, 2-2 MAC) holding a 48-47 lead with 4:30 remaining in regulation, junior Tyler Cheese hit a layup with 2:39 remaining for what proved to be the winning points.
Eastern Michigan (8-9, 2-2 MAC) scored on a driving layup by senior Paul Jackson to close to 50-49 with 43.4 second remaining. It then had a chance to take the lead and possibly win the game, but sophomore Ty Groce missed converting an alley-oop pass with 5.1 seconds remaining.
Junior Deng Riak got the key rebound and was fouled. He made the front end of a one-and-one free throw. After missing the second, the Eagles got the rebound and moved ball into the front court quickly but a driving layup by Jackson missed at the buzzer.
With the victory, UA evened its conference record at 2-2, winning both at home while improving its mark at the JAR to 8-1. The Zips were led by senior Jimond Ivey and junior Daniel Utomi with 12 points each.
Ivey added five assists and four rebounds, while Utomi pulled down four boards and three assists. Sophomore Loren Cristen Jackson was the only other player in double figures for UA with 10 points, two assists, and three steals.
EMU saw its two-game winning streak come to an end as well as a two-game winning skein over the Zips. The Eagles were led by Jackson and junior Bouracar Toure with with 15 points. Jackson had four assists and five steals, while Toure had 10 rebounds.
Sporting a new uniform style -- gray with black numerals and trimmed in gold -- the Zips were on target early as they hit their first three shots from beyond the arc, building an 11-5 lead at the 15:09 mark after a three from the top of the key from Cristen Jackson.
EMU then countered with a 10-3 spurt to gain a 15-14 edge at the 7:03 markl on a slam by Toure.
UA held the lead for the remainder of the half thanks to a three-from the right corner by Utomi, building a 25-19 lead at the 3:06 mark before the Eagles closed to four at halftime, 26-22.
“It was a weird game offensively.” Groce said. “However our team defense was stellar.”
At the start of the second half, the visitors from Ypsilanti used an 8-3 spurt to regain the lead 30-29 on a layup by Minnie.
The game then went back-and forth before UA took the lead for good, 46-45, on a three from the right corner by Utomi with 6:26 remaining. That set up the final moments
“I was happy with the way we won. That was one of the biggest things.” Groce said as the Zips claimed their fourth straight at home.
Statisically, both teams shot well in the second half. The Zips were at 52.6 percent from the field (10-of-19) and went 42.2 percent for the game. WMU shot 12-of-28 from the floor (42.9%) but was just 3-of-15 from beyond the arc.
EMU dominated the rebounds 35-25, including 12 offensive rebounds. However, Eastern turned the ball over 17 times, into which Akron converted into 13 points
One surprising stat was EMU senior James Thompson IV, who had 11 rebounds but was held to just six points. Coming into the game, he was one of three players in the MAC to average double-digits in both scoring and rebounds. Demajeo Wiggins of Bowling Green and Toledo’s Willie Jackson were the others.
Neither team shot well from beyond the arc, with UA going 6-of-20 and EMU connecting on 3-of-15. The low score was also related to a combined 31 turnovers in the contest.
NEXT:
Both teams return to action on Saturday. Akron travels to Miami to battle the Redhawks, while EMU heads to Buffalo for a second meeting with the nationally ranked Bulls.