 CLEVELAND - Several times, it looked as though Toledo had Akron beaten. Each time, the Zips made a play. The last play was enough to lift them past UT for a 93-92 win in overtime.
Toledo guard Clayton Sterling spun past three defenders and lofted a layup at the rim that bounced around and dropped in to give the Rockets (7-25, 5-11) a 92-91 lead with 6 seconds remaining. Akron (20-12,10-6) then attempted to beat the defense down the floor, but a Toledo deflected the ball out of bounds. With 1.4 on the clock, Akron guard Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens lobbed a pass toward the rim that Brett McKnight caught and dropped in as the buzzer sounded.
Officials reviewing the play put .5 seconds back on the clock. Ridley Johnson's heave from halfcourt bounced off the top of the backboard as Akron players rushed the court to celebrate.
"We should've put .6 on the clock for old time's sake," Akron coach Keith Dambrot joked, referring to the end of the 2007 championship. "(Toledo) outplayed us. We were bad... I know this team could give us all we wanted."
It was just the final play of many that brought Akron back from the brink of a huge upset in a game that saw 12 lead changes and 12 ties.
"It was many times through the game I thought we won it," UT guard Jonathan Amos said.
After Chris McKnight's free throw with 14:45 left in the second half tied the score at 45-45,
Toledo went on a 17-5 run over the next 8:51 to take a 62-50 lead. Akron would chip away at the lead until Nate Linhart's layup pulled the Zips to 76-75. During this stretch, Akron hit four three pointers after failing to hit their first 10 attempts of the half. Jonathan Byrd hit two free throws to give Toledo a 78-75 lead with 9.7 seconds to play.
Brett McClanahan then missed a desperation three-point attempt on the ensuing possession, and the ball fell to the ground, unclaimed. Brett McKnight recovered it before it bounced out of bounds, flipped it to Hitchens, who connected with the tying shot.
McKnight said he did not know Hitchens was in the corner until Hitchens yelled at him.
"I don't know what I was thinking," Hitchens said. "I just needed to hit that shot." Hitchens had not made a three-point attempt since Feb. 18 against Miami.
"It must be destiny, right?" Dambrot said. "He's a special kid. He's lost some games in crunch time, he's won some games in crunch time, but he's not afraid."
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