 AKRON 67, EASTERN MICHIGAN 53 There was no such drama Tuesday night as Akron rebounded to halt a two-game losing streak to end the regular season. The Zips used a 19-2 first half run to take control of the game, then survived a pair of surges by the Eastern Michigan to post a 67-53 victory in the first round of the 2011 FirstEnergy MAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Tuesday night at Rhodes Arena.
LOOKING BACK – AND AHEAD
Akron (20-12) avenged their regular-season loss to EMU back on February 2 in Ypsilanti, 60-56, by advancing to the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon, when they will face the Miami Redhawks for the third time this season.
“This game (the first one) is the most pressure filled game for me as a coach.” Zips head coach Keith Dambrot said after the game. “I thought we were a bit leggy at the start. Probably worked them a little bit too hard on Sunday, but we will be more careful now.”
Junior forward Nikola Cvetinovic led four UA players in double figures with 13 points. Senior Brett McKnight came off the bench to score 11, while senior guards Steve McNees and Darryl Roberts both had 10 points.
“We played two emotional games (Ohio and Kent State) before this. We didn’t have our best performances from our best guys, and we were still able to win. So we kind of grinded it out tonight,” Dambrot said.
EMU STRUGGLES DOWN THE STRETCH
Eastern Michigan (9-22) finishes its season losing four of the last five games as the Eagles failed to advance out of the first round for the second time in the last three seasons.
“We cut the lead to five points (early in the second half) and had the ball, and we promptly turned it over.” Eagles head coach Charles E. Ramsey said afterwards. “We had some decent looks (at the basket), but once they did not fall. It was contagious.”
BOWDRY BOWS OUT AS LEADING SCORER
Senior forward Brandon Bowdry, in his final game for the Eagles, led all scorers in the contest with 14 points (11 coming in the second half) and eight rebounds, while freshman guard J.R. Sims added 12. When they defeated the Zips earlier in the season, Bowdry had 25 points and 12 boards.
The Eagles started the game strongly scoring the game’s first five points and held a second five-point advantage at 9-4 at the 16:07 mark on three-pointer by Sims from the left corner. It would be EMU’s last field goal for over nine minutes and their last lead of the game.
UA took control of the contest with a 19-2 run to build a 23-11 lead at the 8:41 mark on a three from the right arc by McNees. Decisive runs have been the mantra for the Zips in their recent wins. They used big runs in defeating Western Michigan, Ball State, and Miami during their recent seven game winning streak.
NINE-POINT LEAD AT BREAK
The Zips went into halftime with a nine-point lead, 31-22, shooting 48 percent from the field (23-for-47) while holding EMU to just 8-for-26 from the floor (30.8%).
At the start of the second half, EMU used a 6-2 spurt to close the deficit to five 33-28 with 17:04 remaining on a layup by Bowdry. They were his first points since a free throw at the 16:44 mark of the first half.
In his four seasons with the Eagles, Bowdry put up some impressive numbers. He leaves with 1,857 points, putting him fourth on the all-time list. During Tuesday’s game, he registered his 1,000th career rebound and ends his career with 1,006 boards - second on the all-time list. In addition, he scored in double digits 94 times in 126 career games and posted 39 career double-doubles.
UA pushed the lead back out to 11 on two occasions, the last being 45-34 with 13:14 remaining on a short jumper in the lane by sophomore center Zeke Marshall. EMU closed the deficit to six on three occasions, the last being 54-48 with 4:43 remaining on a short jumper by junior reserve Kamil Janton.
FREE THROW TROUBLES
One key area that contributed to the Eagles demise was free throw shooting. EMU came into the game shooting just 63 percent from the charity stripe. Against the Zips, they were only 11-for-23 (47.1%) for the game and 8-for-17 in the second half.
“The game was a microcosm of the season for us. Our veteran guys did not step up and lead the young guys. That is why we are going home.” Ramsey said.
The Zips finished off the contest hitting six-of-eight free throws in the final 1:25 to collect their 14th home win of the season, advancing to the quarterfinals for the sixth consecutive season.
UA shot 50 percent in the second half (11-for-22), finishing the contest at 49.9% (23-for-47). The Zips also edged EMU in the rebound battle, 33-31, while Eastern Michigan shot 44 percent from the field in the second half (11-for-25) and finishied the game at just 37.3% (19-for-51). That included just 4-for-25 from three-point range
“It was a grind tonight because these are the type of games you are expected to win, and we have had a hard time with them (EMU).” Dambrot said.
Akron and Miami split their two regular-season meetings, with each team winning on their home court. This is the first meeting in the MAC Tournament since the 2007 Championship Game when Doug Penno’s miracle three-pointer at the buzzer sent Miami away with the title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
They will meet again on Thursday afternoon with a berth in the semi-finals at stake.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
KEY MOMENT: Akron’s 19-2 early first half run, which gave the hosts a lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the game
STAR OF THE GAME: NIKOLA CVETINOVIC-AKRON. The junior forward from Serbia led the Zips with 13 points, with six rebounds and three assists
KEY STAT OF THE GAME: 1) Akron’s senior guard Darryl Roberts was a perfect five-for-five from the field. 2) Eastern Michigan hit on just 4-of-25 from beyond the three-point arc. 3) The Eagles went 11-for-25 from the free throw line.
NOTES: It was third time the two schools have met in MAC Tournament play (Akron leads 3-0)…38th lifetime meeting (even 19-19) the teams split the last four meetings…Akron is 13-13 lifetime in MAC Tournament games...UA finishes their home schedule with a 14-2 mark, winning their last nine…The win gave Akron 20 victories on the season. It was the sixth consecutive season the Zips have accomplished the feat, the longest current streak in the MAC…Steve McNees-AKR tied Chris McKnight’s school record for games played with 137…Brett McKnight-AKR has scored in double digits in his last six straight games and eight of his last nine…Akron head coach Keith Dambrot is 13-6 lifetime in MAC Tournament play (12-5 at Akron)…11-3 lifetime vs EMU (6-3 vs current head coach Charles E, Ramsey)…Dambrot was an assistant coach at EMU from 1986-89 under then head coach Ben Braun…EMU is 21-25 lifetime in MAC Tournament play
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