AKRON, OHIO – The Akron Zips defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes 79-76 in a hard fought game Friday night at Rhodes Arena. Akron's victory clinches the Eastern Division Championship, and the number one seed in the 2020 MAC Tournament beginning Thursday in Cleveland.
Akron (24-7, 14-4 MAC) collected . . .
The Zips play the winner of Ohio and Central Michigan in the first game on Thursday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“It was a high level college basketball game.” Zips head coach John Groce said. “Multiple plays by our guys, their guys. We didn’t win the first one (at KSU) but we won this one.”
Junior Loren Christen Jackson hit two free throws and then on UA’s next possession found his way through the defense for a layup in a span of 40 seconds late in the second half to give the Zips a lead they would not relinquish.
The Zips had four players in double figures. Senior Xeyrious Williams led all scorers in the contest with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Cristen Jackson had 16 with four assists. Banks registered 14 points with three boards while senior Tyler Cheese had 10 with nine rebounds.
Kent State (19-12, 9-9) had a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime . After senior Channel Banks made a pair of free throws with 3.7 seconds remaining, senior Antonio Williams dribbled down the floor. He put up a desperate three-pointer from the top of the circle that went wide to the left.
“It was a great game.”: KSU head coach Rob Senderoff said. “They made one more play that we did.”
Sophomore Anthony Roberts led four KSU players in double figures with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Troy Simons added 16, going three-of-four from three-point range. Junior Danny Pipped had 14, with five boards, while senior Antonio Williams had 11.
KSU faces Eastern Michigan on Monday night at home with the winner facing third seed Ball State in the final game on Thursday night.
The visitors started strongly, scoring the game’s first five points before UA found its legs and shooting touch. Akron scored 11 unanswered points to take its largest lead of the game, 11-5, on a three from the left arc by Banks.
From that point on, the game was close. Over 40 minutes, there were nine lead changes and eight ties.
The Flashes used a 10-4 spurt to regain a 32-28 lead thanks to short jumper and a free throw by Pippen, who had eight points in the opening half.
UA built a five-point advantage, 39-34, on a short baseline jumper by Williams, only to see Pippen connect on a three from the right arc as the buzzer sounded to cut the Zips lead to 39-37 at halftime.
“I thought we played really well in the first half and we were only up by two points.” Groce said.
At the start of the second half, the Flashes went on an 11-4 run, led by Roberts who scored six points during that stretch to give KSU a 48-44 lead with 3:30 left into the second half.
“The first ten minutes of the second half, Kent was the better team," Groce said. “They were more physical and had a three possession lead constantly at that time.”
KSU built a pair of five point leads, with the second being 55-50 on a put-back by senior Phillip Whittington. He finished the game with eight points and five rebounds.
However, this 2019-20 Zips team
Akron, however, once again displayed its ability to come back and win.
The Zips scratched and clawed in the final moments to tie the game and then took the lead on the four points by Cristen Jackson.
“Down the stretch we got some big stops and made big plays and stepped up to the free throw line.” Groce said. “We found a way to win.”
The foul line was a key element in the game as UA went 25-of-28 from the charity stripe including going a perfect 10-of-10 in the final 2:02.
When Williams missed his wayward three at the buzzer, pandemonium broke loose and UA won the Easters Division outright coupled with Bowling Green’s home loss to Buffalo.
NOTES:
>> Akron said farewell to five seniors before the game and retired former Zips great Romeo Travis number 24 at halftime.
>> The Zips won the rebound battle 40-36 while KSU committed only six turnovers to 14 for UA.
>> The Zips made 22 fast break points and the Flashes had 34 points in the paint to 24 for UA.