OHIO 75, MARSHALL 65
AKRON 66, WRIGHT STATE 48
ATHENS, Ohio – Ohio (8-2) improved to 6-0 inside the Convocation Center, defeating rival Marshall (7-4), 75-65, Wednesday night in Athens. The Bobcats were led by sophomore guard Mark Sears with 24 points.
"I thought it was a really good win for our team," head coach Jeff Boals said. "We talked coming in, the two keys were going to be, [Andrew] Taylor and [Taevion] Kinsey, and we talked about transition defense, ball screen defense and rebounding. I think I'd have to look but I think this might be the third team we've held them to their lowest point total this season. Our half-court defense has been really, really good this year."
Individually, Sears led with a game-high 24 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. He went 6-of-12 from the field, 2-of-3 from three and was 10-of-10 from the line. Fifth year forward Jason Carter added 19 points, nine rebounds and went 6-of-15 from the field and 7-of-7 from the line. Junior forward Ben Roderick added 10 points and four rebounds, while going 6-of-7 from the line.
Overall, Ohio shot 40 percent from the field, 30.4 percent from three and were 24-of-26 (.923) from the line. Meanwhile, Marshall shot 37.3 percent from the field, 32.1 percent from three and 76.9 percent from the line. Marshall outrebounded the Bobcats, 37-36, while both teams dished out 10 assists. The Bobcats forced 22 Marshall turnovers, scoring 25 points off them.
The Bobcats opened the second half on a 9-2 run, including free throws off a technical foul on the Marshall bench, putting the Bobcats up 47-31. However, back-to-back baskets from Marshall cut the Ohio lead to 12 with 15:37 left in the game. Out of the media timeout, Sears went on a personal 6-0 run with back-to-back layups and free throws, giving Ohio a 17-point lead. However, the Herd countered with a 5-0 run to cut the Ohio lead to 53-41 going into the under-14 media timeout.
Out of the timeout, Marshall cut the Ohio lead to 10, however a 6-0 run from the Bobcats increased the lead back to 16 before the Herd were able to connect on two free throws and a three to cut the Ohio lead to 59-48 with 8:35 left in the game. The Herd would cut the Ohio lead to seven points with 5:41 left in the game. However, the Bobcats responded with two free throws and a dunk from Carter off his own offensive rebound, giving Ohio a 65-54 lead going into the final media timeout. Out of the timeout, Ohio extended its lead to 10. Marshall was able to score five-straight to cut the Ohio lead to five with 1:57 left in the game.
After a 30-second Marshall timeout, Sears drained a three at the buzzer, followed by a block from Carter moments later to help put the Bobcats up 71-63. After another Marshall timeout, the Bobcats capitalized on their free throws, helping secure the 75-65 victory.
For Marshall, four scored in double figures and were led by Obinna Anochili-Killen with 18 points and nine rebounds, followed by Taevion Kinsey with 15 points and seven rebounds. David Early added 14 points, while Andrew Taylor scored 11 points and dished out five assists.
Up next, the Bobcats close out nonconference play right before the holiday break when they host USC Upstate. Tip-off is set for Noon ET inside the Convocation Center.
AKRON 66, WRIGHT STATE 48
Dayton, Ohio – The Akron Zips led for 38-minutes in a dominant 66-48 win on the road over Wright State at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday evening.
Three players registered double-digit scoring performances for Akron (7-3) led by sophomore forward Ali Ali. He recorded a game-high 19 points on 7-of-12 (.583) shooting from the floor, including a 2-of-3 (.667) effort from deep. Junior guard Bryan Trimble, Jr. followed with 15 points and junior guard Xavier Castaneda tallied 14 points.
Akron scored the first five points of the game as Castaneda buried back-to-back buckets, one in the lane and one from deep. Wright State (2-7, 1-1 Horizon) answered with a 7-0 run, but 25-seconds later, Trimble hit a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key and Akron never trailed again. Trimble hit three of the Zips' six trifectas in the first stanza, leading Akron with nine first-half points en route to a 35-23 lead at the break.
Zips outscored the home team 15-6 early in the second half fueled by six points from Trimble. Castaneda added seven points in each half, while Ali scorched the Raiders for 14-second half points. Ali went 2-of-2 from beyond the 3-point arc in the final 20-minutes and only had one miscue as he finished the game with a 5-of-6 ledger.
Akron controlled the glass, outrebounding the home team 37-26 as sophomore forward Enrique Freeman and freshman guard Garvin Clarke secured eight rebounds apiece.
In his first collegiate start, freshman center Aziz Bandaogo grabbed seven boards and dished out a team-high three of the Zips' 11 assists.
The Zips defense limited Wright State's Tanner Holden to 12 points as he entered the game averaging a team-best 19.8 points per game. WSU's Grant Basile followed with 11 points, 7.8 points shy of his average, as the Zips forced tough shots throughout the game.
Akron returns to James A. Rhodes Arena for the final regular-season non-conference game of the season on Monday, Dec. 20th, hosting Radford for a 7 p.m. tilt.