Isaiah Johnson registered 24 points with 10 rebounds against Eastern Michigan (SGW/BMP) By EVAN MEYER
CLEVELAND, Oh - The Akron Zips used a 15-2 run midway through the first half and coasted in from there to defeat the Eastern Michigan Eagles 79-62 Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena.
The win for Akron (25-7) was . . .
CLEVELAND, Oh - The Akron Zips used a 15-2 run midway through the first half and coasted in from there to defeat the Eastern Michigan Eagles 79-62 Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena.
The win for Akron (25-7) was . . .
. . . the third against Eastern Michigan (16-17) this season and UA now advances to the semi-finals for the 12th consecutive season. Akron will face the winner of the second quarterfinal game between the fourth-seeded Ball State Cardinals and the fifth-seeded Western Michigan Broncos. That semi-final contest tips off at 5:30 p.m. ET Friday.
“Eastern Michigan presents a lot of problems for us. They have explosive players.” said Zips head coach Keith Dambrot, adding that he was proud of his team for coming back after EMU took an early lead.
Senior Isiah Johnson led UA with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Noah Robotham had 19 and four assists, while sophomore Josh Williams came off the bench to score 11.
James Thompson IV led four Eagles in double figures with 18 points and 16 rebounds.
“Eastern Michigan presents a lot of problems for us. They have explosive players.” said Zips head coach Keith Dambrot, adding that he was proud of his team for coming back after EMU took an early lead.
Senior Isiah Johnson led UA with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Noah Robotham had 19 and four assists, while sophomore Josh Williams came off the bench to score 11.
James Thompson IV led four Eagles in double figures with 18 points and 16 rebounds.
Ray Lee elevates for a shot over Isaiah Johnson. Lee scored 17 points, although Ohio limited him to 4 of 15 from the field. (SGW/BMP) The Zips weathered a storm by Thompson who scored EMU’s first 11 points and had seven rebounds in the first 5:47 of the contest .
With the Eagles holding a 17-12 lead at the 11:05 mark on two free throws by Ray Lee, UA went on a 15-2 run. Antino Jackson’s baseline jumper at 2:10 gave the Zips a 30-21 advantage and Akron would remain in front the rest of the way.
UA led 30-27 at halftime and stretched the lead out to 16 with 4:30 remaining on a three from the left arc by Williams. That finished a span of 19 seconds during which junior Jimond Ivey a steal and layup, followed by a steal and trey by Williams.
The closest EMU could get for the rest of the game was four points on two occasions. The last was 55-51 on a three from the left arc by Ray Lee that ended an 8-0 run.
Lee joined Thompson (18) in double figures with 17 points. Tim Bond netted 11 and Ty Toney 10.
With the Eagles holding a 17-12 lead at the 11:05 mark on two free throws by Ray Lee, UA went on a 15-2 run. Antino Jackson’s baseline jumper at 2:10 gave the Zips a 30-21 advantage and Akron would remain in front the rest of the way.
UA led 30-27 at halftime and stretched the lead out to 16 with 4:30 remaining on a three from the left arc by Williams. That finished a span of 19 seconds during which junior Jimond Ivey a steal and layup, followed by a steal and trey by Williams.
The closest EMU could get for the rest of the game was four points on two occasions. The last was 55-51 on a three from the left arc by Ray Lee that ended an 8-0 run.
Lee joined Thompson (18) in double figures with 17 points. Tim Bond netted 11 and Ty Toney 10.
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