By EVAN MEYER
AKRON, OHIO – The Akron Zips improved their record to 2-0 under new head coach John Groce as they led from start to finish in defeating the Skyhawks of Tennessee-Martin 76-59 Saturday night at Rhodes Arena.
“We made a lot of progress within a week.” Groce said “I thought we did some good things in getting the win. We have a long ways to go.”
UA was led by . . .
AKRON, OHIO – The Akron Zips improved their record to 2-0 under new head coach John Groce as they led from start to finish in defeating the Skyhawks of Tennessee-Martin 76-59 Saturday night at Rhodes Arena.
“We made a lot of progress within a week.” Groce said “I thought we did some good things in getting the win. We have a long ways to go.”
UA was led by . . .
. . . sophomore Daniel Utomi, who had a career high 32 points, going 11-of-16 from the field and 8-of-11 from three point range. Graduate student Malcon Duvivier added 17, with five-of-seven from beyond the arc.
Tennessee-Martin (1-3), out of the Ohio Valley Conference, was led by senior Matthew Butler and junior Fatodd Lewis. Each had 18 points, with Lewis coming off the bench to add seven rebounds and two assists.
‘We could not stop the three pointers. We didn’t do a good job at defending the three at all.” UTM head coach Anthony Stewart said. “We got the deficit down to two, but our defense let us down. We go as out defense goes”
The Zips opened a 12-3 lead within the first five minutes thanks to a trifecta of threes from Duvivier, who came to the Zips from Oregon State.
After UA opened a 20-5 lead at the 11:26 mark following a three from the arc by freshman Eric Parrish. The visitors chipped away at the lead, closing to 33-26 at the 1:41 mark when Williams went down the lane for a layup, but UA held 34-28 leat at intermission.
UTM started to find the mark early in the second half. It continued to gnaw away at the deficit, closing to within two, 39-37, with 16:52 remaining on a left-wing jumper by Butler
That, however, would be as close as the Skyhawks could get.
From that point on, the Zips started to pull away, opening as much as a 15-point lead in the closing moments before winning by 17.
UA returns to action next Saturday as it travels to Dayton to face the Flyers out of the Atlantic-10.
‘We could not stop the three pointers. We didn’t do a good job at defending the three at all.” UTM head coach Anthony Stewart said. “We got the deficit down to two, but our defense let us down. We go as out defense goes”
The Zips opened a 12-3 lead within the first five minutes thanks to a trifecta of threes from Duvivier, who came to the Zips from Oregon State.
After UA opened a 20-5 lead at the 11:26 mark following a three from the arc by freshman Eric Parrish. The visitors chipped away at the lead, closing to 33-26 at the 1:41 mark when Williams went down the lane for a layup, but UA held 34-28 leat at intermission.
UTM started to find the mark early in the second half. It continued to gnaw away at the deficit, closing to within two, 39-37, with 16:52 remaining on a left-wing jumper by Butler
That, however, would be as close as the Skyhawks could get.
From that point on, the Zips started to pull away, opening as much as a 15-point lead in the closing moments before winning by 17.
UA returns to action next Saturday as it travels to Dayton to face the Flyers out of the Atlantic-10.
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