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Akron (19-7,9-3 MAC) picked up its fourth straight win and sixth in the last seven games. The victory coupled with Kent State’s 70-55 loss at Buffalo on Saturday pulled the Zips back into a tie with the Golden Flashes for first place in the Eastern Division.

Ohio (14-12, 5-7 MAC) saw its modest two-game winning streak come to an end and fell into the basement in the Eastern Division.

“It was a hard fought game. We had them on the ropes a couple of times and they never quit and made plays. We were very fortunate to win,” Zips head coach Keith Dambrot said after the game

Senior forward Chris McKnight came off the bench to score a career-best 25 points (five of which came in the second overtime), along with 18 rebounds, also a career high, while registering his second double-double of the season and third of his career.

“We are finding ways to gut it out and get the victories” Chris McKnight said.

Jimmy Conyers added 20 points and 11 rebounds. Brett McKnight scored 14 off the bench, with six coming in the second overtime, and Anthony ‘Humpty’ Hitchens scored 10.

Ohio was led by freshman guard D.J. Cooper who had a phenomenal game. The Chicago native scored a career best 33 points going 11-for-20 from the field and 8-of-13 from the free throw line, while pulling in seven rebounds and registering five assists.

“He (Cooper) plays with a lot of confidence. You have to get them off his left hand and he is gutsy. He reminds me a lot of Dru Joyce when he played here” Dambrot said

Freshman forward Reggie Keely added 16 and pulled down 20 rebounds while guard Armon Bassett added 16. DeVan Washington came off the bench to score 10 .

“It was a fun game for the fans. I thought both teams played well. Unfortunately for us we were on the losing end of it.” Ohio head coach John Groce said after the game. “Our inability to get stops to start the double-overtime was key. Also, we left an awful lot of points at the free throw line” The Bobcats shot just 52.8 percent from the 15-foot line (19-for-36)

The game was close in the early going with both teams opening a small lead before Akron used a 10-3 spurt to gain a pair of five-point leads - the last being 21-16 at the 7:42 mark on a follow-up basket by Chris McKnight.

Ohio then scored eight of the next nine points to regain the lead 24-22 at the 4:26 mark on a Cooper free throw. However, the Zips then outscored OU 8-3 to take a 34-29  lead into halftime.

At the start of the second half, the play picked up with both teams battling for every point and every rebound. Ohio caught the Zips at 39-39 when Bassett connected on a three-pointer.

The Bobcats then carved out a pair of five-point leads, the last being  52-47 on a slam dunk by Washington with 11:03 remaining.

Akron then used an 8-3 run to tie the score again, this time at 55-55, on a Hitchens layup.

With the Zips leading 63-61 at the 4:21 on a Chris McKnight layup following a steal, Ohio went on a 6-2 run to tie the game 65-65 when Bassett hit a three from the left side of the three-point arc.

Chris McKnight added a pair of free throws to give Akron a 67-65 lead at the 1:06 mark but Cooper then took the game into his own hands and drove into the lane and made a layup with 46.7 seconds remaining to tie the game 67-67.

“Chris McKnight was a handful and was a difficult cover for us” Groce said.

A key moment in the game came with 4.1 seconds remaining in regulation. With the 35-second shot clock winding down Akron took a shot that went in the vicinity of the rim. The shot clock buzzer went off, and Ohio claimed that the ball did not touch the rim and they would be awarded possession on a clock violation.

The three officials then convened at the scorers table, but since the game was not being televised, there was no monitor to give officials the play and clock simultaneously. After a short discussion the officials ruled that the shot did touch the rim and Akron would retain possession.

The Zips had two tries at the basket in the final 4.1 ticks but failed and the game went into overtime. “At home you have to drive the ball.” Dambrot said “We decoyed the play with Zeke (Marshall) possibly for the lob pass or try to drive it with Brett McKnight but he decided to shoot the jumper”

Both teams raised their game again in the first overtime as the Zips opened a six-point lead 75-69 with 2:27 remaining as Hitchens followed a missed shot by Darryl Roberts with a put-back layup.

The Bobcats then started hitting threes. First it was Tommy Freeman, their three-point specialist, from the left arc. Then Cooper hit a trey from the same side to close the deficit to 76-75 at the 1:37 mark.

The two teams then traded baskets as Steve McNees hit a jumper for Akron and Keely followed a missed shot with a layup to make it 78-77.

Conyers then hit a pair of free throws with 26.7 seconds remaining and Akron had an 80-77 lead, but Ohio just would not go away as Freeman hit again for three with 11.7 seconds remaining to send the contest into a second overtime   

“We look for him every time whenever we need a clutch three” Keely said.

Both teams raised their game again and gave the crowd something to talk about for a long time to come as the Zips scored in their first five possessions of the second overtime, carving out a five-point lead 87-82 on a conventional three-point play by Brett McKnight. But the Bobcats just would not fold and closed to 89-88 when Cooper hit a short jumper in the lane.

But the freshman then made a mistake that would be costly in the outcome. With 3.9 seconds remaining Cooper’s right foot slipped and he went down on one knee on the right baseline. When he lifted his knee, the referee called traveling and awarded Akron the basketball.

“I didn’t know if I had traveled, I thought I held myself up with my hand than my knee.” Cooper said.

Conyers made two free throws to make the score 91-88 but the Bobcats would have one last chance as Cooper was fouled by McNees with 1.1 seconds remaining. Cooper missed the first free-throw before intentionally missing the second. The ball came out  to the left side  but there was no time for Ohio to put up a three-point shot and the Zips came away with the victory.

The win was Akron’s sixth in the last seven meetings against Ohio and gave the Zips  a sweep of the regular-season series as thye picked up a 67-62 win in Athens on January 13.

The two teams combined for 147 field goal attempts (40 of which came from three-point range), 104 total rebounds (55-49 Ohio) 49 of which came on the offensive glass 52 personal fouls (three players disqualified) and amazingly just 27 turnovers.

“I thought our effort was outstanding. I thought we showed a lot of toughness and showed a lot of poise especially in pressure situations.” Groce said. “We are playing our best basketball of the season right now”

Akron now hits the road for three of the next four, starting Wednesday night at Miami. Ohio returns to Northeast Ohio Wednesday to face Kent State.

NOTES: The game was the 60th lifetime meeting between the two schools now even at 30-30..Akron’s second overtime game in the last three (win at Ball State on February 6th 75-70..Zips first double overtime regular-season game since January 2,2008 at Dayton (83-81 L) and first at home since February 8,1992 vs Wright State (89-86 W)…Akron is 11-3 at home with the victory…Zips head coach Keith Dambrot is 11-5 lifetime against Ohio 3-1 against current head man John Groce..Akron is 4-1 in Sunday home games…Jimmy Conyers-AKR collected his sixth double-double of the season…D.J. Cooper-OHIO set a Rhodes Arena record with 33 points and has scored in double-figures in 20 of 26 games…Reggie Keely-OHIO set an arena record with 20 rebounds…Keely is a native of University Heights, Ohio (a Cleveland suburb) and played his High School basketball at Cleveland Heights High School.