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Zips, Bobcats Score Opening Round Wins |
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 Two Mid-American Conference squads opened postseason tournament play with wins Tuesday night as Akron defeated Florida State in the opening round of the NIT while Ohio defeated Brown at home in the opener of the inaugural CBI event.
NIT: Akron 65, Florida State 60 (OT).
Nick Dials scored 13 of his 21 points in overtime, including three consecutive 3-pointers, to lead the University of Akron men's basketball team to a 65-60 victory over Florida State in the first round of the MasterCard National Invitational Tournament on Tuesday night at Tucker Center.
The Zips (24-10) got their first-ever win over an Atlantic Coast Conference team despite being decisively outrebounded and making only 10 of 19 free throws. It was Akron's second postseason victory in school history.
Uche Echefu had 20 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double double of the season for Florida State (19-15), which was in the NIT for the third-straight year.
Akron was unable to protect a 51-47 lead in the final 1:30 of regulation, missing a dunk and three free throws to go along with a costly turnover.
However, Dials took over in the overtime. His first two baskets from long range put the Zips ahead both times and he hit four-straight free throws at the end to preserve the victory.
The Seminoles had a 43-29 rebound advantage, but were hampered by 23 turnovers - 10 by Jason Rich.Akron led 27-26 at the half, reclaiming the lead after Jordan DeMercy's 3-point shot gave Florida State its first lead of the game at 26-25.
Florida State missed 10 of its first 11 shots and had six turnovers early, falling behind 20-5 midway through the first half.
Akron will travel to Massachusetts for a second-round game on Saturday at noon EDT on ESPN. The Minutemen defeated Stephen F. Austin earlier Tuesday.
From www.gozips.com
 CBI: Ohio 80, Brown 74.
Ohio's Bubba Walther, Leon Williams and Jerome Tillman all posted double-doubles to lead the Bobcats to an 80-74 victory over Brown in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational Tuesday night in Athens. Ohio improved to 20-12 overall and will advance to Monday's second round. Brown finished its season at 19-10 overall.
Ohio has now defeated 21 consecutive non-conference opponents at home.
Williams posted his 43rd career double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Tillman had his 17th with 21 points and 11 boards. Walther got his the hard way with 10 points and a career-high 12 assists. Freshman guard Tommy Freeman had 11 points, while junior guard Michael Allen (Detroit, Mich.) had 10 to round out a starting five that all got into double-digits.
Williams, who made nine of his 11 field goal attempts, and junior guard Bert Whittington IV each had a game-high three steals.
The Bobcats needed a lot of offense to offset a masterful performance by the Bears' Damon
Huffman, who racked up 39 points on 13-20 shooting and 9-15 from the 3-point line.
Huffman had 22 at the half and scored Brown's first 14 points of the game. Mark McAndrew
had 15 points, six boards and six assists, while Peter Sullivan had 10 points. Chris Skrelja also had six caroms to lead a Brown rebounding effort that was beaten 35-24 on the glass.
Huffman's long-range bombs contributed heavily to Brown's 16-31 effort (51.6 percent) from outside, while Ohio made just 28.6 percent (8-28). Despite making at least half its field goals and 3-pointers, Brown was hurt at the line with a 57.1 percent effort (8-14).
The Bobcats did most of their damage in the paint (36-16) and on the fast break (10-0).
Led by Huffman's explosion, Brown controlled the game from the start, leading the entire first half. It built the advantage to as many as 10 (31-21) on a layup by Scott Friske at the 5:45 mark before taking a 37-32 lead into the half on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Huffman from the top of the key.
Ohio took its first lead at 40-39 on a fast break layup by Allen at the 18:04 mark. The game stayed tight until Tillman put the Bobcats ahead for good with a layup at the 4:57 mark to make the score 62-60. Ohio salted the game away slowly by nailing 11 of its final 12 free throws over the game's last two minutes, nine seconds.
The Bobcats will play the winner of Cincinnati (13-18) and Bradley (17-15) Monday at a time and location to be determined in the coming days.
courtesy www.ohiobobcats.com
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