AKRON 87, MAINE 55
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green Falcons tallied a season-high 93 points on a season-best 53.6% from the field and 87.1% from the free throw line to pick up the win over Fairmont State on Monday.
A 22-2 stretch in the first half pushed the Orange and Brown out in front and the Falcons didn't look back, capturing the 93-74 win after closing out the game with a 12-0 run. The win pushes Bowling Green to 5-7 on the season with one more non-conference contest on the schedule, hosting Ohio Dominican on Dec. 29.
The Falcons were led by Leon Ayers III, who narrowly missed a triple-double. Ayers finished with 20 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. Sam Towns posted a career-high 19 points, while Rashaun Agee added 18. BGSU recorded 46 points in the paint, winning the battle down low 46-22. The Orange and Brown also matched their season-high for assists in a game with 20.
AKRON, Ohio – Fueled by 18-first half points from senior Xavier Castaneda, Akron controlled the game from the opening tap en route its fourth-straight win defeating Maine 87-55 on Monday at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Castaneda posted a game-high and career-best 33 points on 73.3 percent (11-of-15) shooting from the floor, including a sizzling 87.5 percent (7-of-8) from beyond the 3-point arc. Junior Enrique Freeman and graduate Trendon Hankerson added double-digit scoring performances in an extremely efficient fashion. Freeman shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from the floor for 14 points and Hankerson contributed 12 points on 60 percent (3-of-5) from the field and 66.7 percent (2-of-3) from deep as the Zips posted the best shooting effort of the season.
Collectively, Akron shot 54.4 percent (31-of-57) from the field and 55 percent (11-of-20) from long distance. The Zips also connected with 87.5 percent (14-of-16) from the charity stripe.
Akron built a 21-point halftime lead as Castaneda recorded 11 of the Zips initial 19 points for a six-point advantage midway through the first half (10:05) for a 19-13 lead. Akron used 9:55 for a 30-8 run and held the Black Bears scoreless for over four minutes in two separate stretches. Hankerson added 11 points with a perfect 3 of 3 showing from the floor, including a pair of trifectas. The Zips caused 13 turnovers and scored 16 points as a result. Akron led 44-23 at the break.
The Akron defense forced 11 additional turnovers in the second frame to finish with 24 takeaways for the game, while recording 10 steals. Castaneda, junior Greg Tribble and freshman Amani Lyles registered two steals each. The Zips also controlled the glass, outrebounding Maine 34-20 as Freeman led the way with eight rebounds.
Kellen Tynes and Kristians Feierbergs led the Black Bears with 10 points each.