AKRON, OH. – Darryl Roberts scored 15 points and had five assists to lead a balanced scoring attack as the Akron Zips overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to
defeat the Niagara Purple Eagles 80-68 Saturday afternoon before 2,049 fans at Rhodes Arena.
The hosting Zips shot 63.6% while going 6-of-10 from three-point range, to score 57 points in the second half. That allowed Akron (4-2) to win its fourth consecutive game, and second at home after starting the season at 0-2. Niagara (4-3) completed a stretch of playing seven games (six on the road) in a 16-day span.
The Zips had five players in double figures, led by Roberts’ 15. Steve McNees came off the bench to score 14, 11 coming in the second half on 4-for-5 shooting from three-point range. Jimmy Conyers and Zeke Marshall had 12 each. Conyers and Nikola Cventinovic led Zips board work with 11 rebounds.
“I thought we played much better as a team,” Zips head coach Keith Dambrot said after the game. “We had to get our sea legs under us. I thought Jimmy Conyers played terrific. (Steve) McNees made shots when it mattered, and Zeke (Marshall) was terrific.”
Niagara was led by guard Tyrone Lewis, who came off the bench to lead all scorers with 21 points. Bilal Benn added 17 and Demetrius Williams had 11 for a team that, coming into Sunday’s game, had four players averaging in double digits.
“These are good games for the mid-majors to play (and) you had two good teams out there today” Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said afterwards. “These are the type of teams we like to play so we can get better.
The Zips opened an early 13-5 lead at the 13:26 mark on a three-pointer by Roberts. The visitors from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference then used a 13-2 run to open a six-point advantage (21-15) at the 6:36 mark on a trey by Lewis.
Akron closed the margin to 21-20 on two Brett McKnight free throws before the Purple Eagles ran off seven straight points and ended the first half with a 10-3 spurt to take their largest lead into halftime, 31-23.
The score was reflected in some bad first half numbers for the home team. Akron shot just 8-for-29 from the field (27.6%) and 4-of-14 from beyond the three point arc. “I thought we played pretty well. We just didn’t make any shots,” Dambrot said
That changed dramatically over the final 20 minutes.
The Zips came out firing at the start of the second half, scoring the half’s first six points as part of an 18-8 run. Akron grabbed its first lead, 41-39, since the 11:17 mark of the first half on a Brett McKnight layup with 15:13 remaining.
Niagara responded on the next possession, regaining the lead 42-41 on a three by Lewis, only to see the Zips outscore them 17-6 to forge a 57-49 lead at the 9:34 mark on a layup by Marshall.
The Eagles closed to four at 58-54 with 7:46 remaining on a Lewis layup, but that would be the closest they would get for the remainder of the game
“They are a dangerous team, and they are not going to go through a first half the rest of the season and hold them to 23 points” said Mihalich, who witnessed more of the first half than the second.
With 3:47 remaining in the game and Akron leading 63-57, the Niagra coach was hit with a technical foul during a media timeout. Mihalich, who had been pleading with officials the entire game to call a foul on Akron’s freshman center Marshall, subsequently threw his clipboard down to the floor. That drew a second technical and ejection from the game.
Roberts, a 54.5% free throw shooter in this young season, made all four of the technical foul shots to extend the Akron lead to 67-57 – its largest margin of the game to that point.
In their previous two home games - a loss to Austin Peay and a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff - the Zips squandered double digit second half leads. It would not happen this time. Even though Niagara closed to 70-63 in the final minutes, the Zips finished them off with an 8-2 spurt, six of the points coming from the foul line to open a double digit lead.
“They are a very good team and they will win their share of games” Dambrot said of the Purple Eagles.
Akron is now off until Friday night when it travels to College Station, Texas to battle the Texas A&M Aggies from the Big 12 Conference. Niagara returns home to open MAAC play this coming weekend against Manhattan and Loyola (MD).
NOTES:
- The game was the ninth all-time meeting between the two schools, with Akron holding a 6-3 advantage. The Zips have won the last three in the series.
- Jimmy Conyers (AKR) collected the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
- Akron improved to 66-9 at home in head coach Keith Dambrot’s tenure.
- Dambrot is now 3-0 lifetime against Niagara and head-to-head against Mihalich, who is 1-5 lifetime against the Zips.
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