 AKRON 63, BOWLING GREEN 58 It had been a while since the term “must win” was mentioned in the month of January in UA Basketball circles. But when 3,616 fans at Rhodes Arena hit the exits Saturday, Akron had it’s “must win” with a 63-58 victory.
ROBERTS LEADS THE WAY
The Zips (11-8,2-3 MAC) were led by senior guard Darryl Roberts, who came off the bench to lead all scorers with a season high 17 points (going four-of-five from the field and a perfect six-of-six from the free throw line. Fellow senior Steve McNees added 10 as the Zips picked up their seventh win in the last eight over BGSU.
With BGSU leading 48-44 with 6:05 remaining on a pull-up jumper by junior guard Jordon Crawford, the Zips started their run to victory. Sophomore center Zeke Marshall, who had not scored the entire game, connected on five consecutive points - first a hook shot from the right blocks, then a slam - to tie the game 48-48.
The five points were part of an 11-0 run which eventually gave the Zips the lead for good. The burst was highlighted by a three-pointer by Roberts from the right arc and then a trey by McNees from the top of the key off a time out to give UA a 54-48 lead. From that point, the Zips were never headed.
SEEKING WINNING WAYS
“We had lost three in a row.” McNees said. “Darryl and I are accustomed to winning, and both of us said that enough of that.” The pair combined for 13 of UA’s final 15 points.
UA kept the lead by hitting nine-of-ten free throws down the stretch, with Roberts connecting on all eight of his attempts.
“We knew we had to stop giving up as many points, not only defensively, but offensively as well,” Zips head coach Keith Dambrot said after the game. During the three-game losing streak, UA gave up 79 points to Ohio, 73 to Buffalo, and 84 to Miami Wednesday night tying the most they had given up all season (to Youngstown State in an overtime win on November 20th.)
“I decided to go bigger (a taller lineup) late in the game. Nikola (junior forward Cvetinovic) played great defensively. He did an outstanding job on A’Uston Calhoun and then when we switched him on Thomas, he did a real good job.”
Bowling Green (8-11, 2-3 MAC) came into the game co-leaders of the Eastern Division along with Miami, winning two straight and six of their last seven. They were led offensively by Crawford who came off the bench to score 16 points. Junior forward Scott Thomas added 14.
“I was proud of our guys tonight.” BGSU head coach Louis Orr said afterwards. “We hurt ourselves on both ends on the court. We made the game hard for ourselves with too many turnovers and breakdowns defensively.”
Both teams started strongly. The Zips opened a lead, but the Falcons countered by using the three-point shot. Their first three field goals came from beyond the arc to tie the game at 9-9 at the 16:39 mark after Crawford connected from the right side.
UA opened its largest lead of the first 20 minutes, 27-18, at the 5:33 mark on a layup by Roberts and went into the halftime with a 34-27 advantage when sophomore guard Quincy Diggs connected on a driving layup just before the clock expired. The officials reviewed the basket and indiciated Diggs’ shot left his hand before the clock hit :00.0.
SECOND HALF
At the start of the second half, Akron went into a 4:32 scoring drought, missing its first five shots from the field while struggling with BGSU’s two-three zone defense. The Falcons capitalized, scoring the first six points of the period to close to within a single point at 34-33 on two A’uston Calhoun free throws.
After UA pushed the lead back out to four 37-33 on a three by Roberts, the Falcons used a 9-2 spurt (15-5 since the start of the half) to take their first lead of the game, 42-39, with 10:54 remaining on an alley-oop slam dunk by Torian Oglesby.
BGSU built a four-point lead (48-44) with 6:05 remaining on the pull-up jumper by Crawford. It would be the Falcons last points for over five and a half minutes.
ZIPS TAKE THE LEAD
After UA scored 11 unanswered points and had taken the lead, the next time the Falcons scored was a three-pointer from the top of the circle by sophomore guard Luke Kraus with 32.4 seconds remaining.
“We came back from a seven-point deficit to a 48-44 lead. We had some untimely turnovers and empty possessions and they hit two big threes.” Orr said.
The Falcons did have one final chance to stay in contention. Trailing, 54-48 with 42.8 seconds remaining, A play was run for Thomas, who broke open for a moment and sent a three-pointer from the top of the key on its way only to see the ball go half-way down the basket and then spin out. McNees grabbed the precious rebound and the Zips went on to their seventh win in nine games at home.
“We were able to close out some games late, but this one we have to learn from “ Orr said.
Both teams are back in action against Western Division opposition as UA makes the long trek to DeKalb Wednesday night to face the Northern Illinois Huskies. BGSU makes the short trek up Interstate 75 to face Toledo at Savage Hall on Tuesday night.
GAMERS
KEY MOMENT: Sophomore center Zeke Marshall scored five consecutive points in 45 seconds as Akron started an 11-0 run erasing a 48-44 deficit into a 55-48 lead.
STAR OF THE GAME: DARRYL ROBERTS-AKRON. The senior guard from Toledo, Ohio lead all scorers with a season best 17 points 12 of them coming in the second half. His three-pointer from the left corner with 2:00 remaining gave UA the lead for good.
KEY STAT OF THE GAME: Bowling Green committed 20 turnovers in the contest, the fourth time this season they have turned the ball over 20 or more times in a game
NOTES: The game was the 47th lifetime meeting with Bowling Green holding a 24-23 edge although UA has won 12 of the last 13 meetings (BGSU’s last win in the series was at Akron on March 1,2009, 50-46)…Darryl Roberts-UA- leading the team with 17 points was the second time this season he has led the Zips in scoring this season and the eighth time in double figures...Zeke Marshall-UA- had two blocked shots his 11th multi-block game of the season and has at least one blocked shot in 18 of 19 games so far this season…UA head coach Keith Dambrot is 14-4 lifetime against BGSU and 7-1 against Louis Orr…Joe Jakubowski-BGSU made his 100th career start for the Falcons in the game and was held scoreless for the fourth time in the last five games…Scott Thomas-BGSU- reached double-figures scoring for the fifth consecutive game and sixth in the last seven…Luke Kraus-BGSU- had 12 points in the game third straight double-digit scoring…Jordon Crawford-BGSU double digits in three of his last four.
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