 AKRON 79, WESTERN MICHIGAN 68
Four days later, the Zips are in the championship game for the fifth consecutive year as they defeated the Western Michigan Bronco, 79-68, Friday night in the first-semi final at Quicken Loans Arena.
Akron (22-12) has won 10 of its last 12 games overall and will face its, the Kent State Golden Flashes, in the Championship Game Saturday tonight (Saturday). The Flashes defeated Ball State, 79-68, in the Friday’s other semi-final.
“It was a typical Western Michigan-Akron game.” Zips head coach Keith Dambrot said after the game. “We have a lot of respect for coach (WMU head man Steve) Hawkins and his team. Tonight, I just thought we were better than them.”
FIFTH STRAIGHT OVER WMU
Sophomore reserve Quincy Diggs came off the bench to score 18 points. Senior guard Darryl Roberts added 16 and junior guard Brett McClanahan had 14 as UA defeated WMU for the fifth consecutive time (10 of the last 11).
“The beauty of this team is you never know who is going to step up at what time.” junior forward Nikola Cvetinovic said. “Another thing that is crucial is we were up by 20 (Thursday in the quarter-final against Miami) and they came back, but we stuck it out, which says a lot about this team.”
Western Michigan (20-12) ended its season as the 2011 MAC Western Division Champions, winning eight of its last ten games and defeating Bowling Green in the quarterfinals on Thursday, 67-56.
“Obvious we picked a bad night to not shoot the ball well.” Hawkins said afterwards. “It seems like every time we played Akron (in Cleveland), they shoot it well and we didn’t.”
WARD EARNS SCORING HONORS
Junior guard Demetrius Ward led all scorers in the contest with 22 points (20 of which came in the second half) and also had four assists. Mike Douglas added 11 before he was ejected from the game late in the second half.
The game was a rematch of their semi-final a year ago, when UA picked up a 66-64 win despite the efforts of David Kool who scored 39 points in the loss and had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds but his shot fell short.
After a grueling double-overtime win over MU, many wondered what the Zips had in them - both physically and mentally. But after WMU scored the first four points, Akron used a 12-3 run to take a 23-10 lead at the 12:38 mark on a conventional three-point play by Diggs.
UA built as much as a 15-point lead on two occasions, the last being 38-23 at the 1:34 mark when McClanahan connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key. UA went into halftime with a 14-point advantage, 41-27.
The Zips shot 50 percent in the game’s first 20 minutes (18-for-32) and were 7-for-13 from beyond the three-point arc. Diggs, a transfer from the University of New Orleans who was eligible to play due to UNO’s decision to move down from Division I to Division III, had 12 points. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
BETTER NIGHT FOR DIGGS
“I had a lot of make up to do for the missed layups and other things (Thursday in the Miami game.” So I had to fix that today.” In the press conference after the MU game, Dambrot said he was disappointed in the play of Diggs, who scored seven points but made some critical mistakes.
WMU struggled in the first half, hitting just 31.4% from the field. The Broncos also were just 3-of-10 from the free throw line. Ward, their leading scorer who had 26 in the first game against UA back on February 9, had just two points. Junior forward Flenard Whitfield, who had 23 in that game, had just four.
“We let a lot of guys (Akron players) get away from how we were going to play them by not following through with the scouting report.” Whitfield said.
Akron’s lead stayed at double digits for most of the second half. The Zips matched their largest lead of the game with a 61-46 advantage at 9:21 on a jumper by senior reserve Mike Bardo.
FINAL BRONCOS PUSH
With UA leading 63-49 with 5:36 remaining after a short jumper in the lane by Diggs, WMU made one final push to get back into the game. Using a 14-4 spurt, the Broncos closed the deficit to four, 67-63, with 1:55 remaining on two free throws by Ward.
However, four points was as close as the Broncos could get as the Zips converted 9-of-10 free throws in the final 1:19 to secure the victory. It was their second over WMU this season after beating Western Michigan at Rhodes Arena back in February, 83-71.
The final moments of the contest were marred when Douglas had an altercation with UA senior guard Steve McNees. Douglas was assessed two technical fouls for physical contact to McNees and was ejected from the game.
WMU SHOOTING WOES
Western Michigan shot just 30.6% from the field in the second half (11-for-36) and 22-for-71 over the 40 minutes (31%). The Broncos went 19-for-30 from the free throw line. Individually, Whitfeld had just nine points, but had 10 rebounds before fouling out.
“We were frustrated by our play today.” Ward said. “We were frustrated with ourselves.”
UA advances to the final despite a second sub-par game from their leading scorer, Cvetinovic, who had eight point., Senior Brett McKnight who is a key contributor coming off the bench, had just three. Sophomore center Zeke Marshall, who was in foul trouble for the second consecutive game, finishing with eight points and just three rebounds.
“We had no answers for Ward or Whitfield, but sometimes it is what it is, and we just played a little better tonight. I am proud of our resiliency” Dambrot said.
When Akron plays Kent State, it is always a special occasion. It is magnified when the rivals meet in the MAC tournament and at its best when the two battle in the championship game with an NCAA Tournament bid in the balance. Such are the stakes Saturday evening in Downtown Cleveland.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
KEY MOMENT: After Western Michigan closed the margin to four points, 67-63,with 1:55 remaining, Akron hit 9-OF-10 free throws to blunt the rally. UA’s last field goal was a Brett McClanahan three-pointer with 1:31 remaining.
STAR OF THE GAME: DARRYL ROBERTS-AKRON. The senior guard from Toledo, Ohio had 16 points in the contest, but it was his two three-pointers early in the game that got the Zips started and rolling to a lead they would not relinquish.
KEY STAT OF THE GAME: Western Michigan shot just 19-for-30 from the free throw line.
NOTES: The game was the 38th lifetime meeting with Akron holding a 21-17 advantage…sixth meeting in MAC Tournament play (Akron 5-1)…Akron is 15-12 lifetime in MAC Tournament games…UA head coach Keith Dambrot is 15-6 lifetime in MAC Tournament play as a head coach (15-5 at Akron)…Dambrot is 10-4 lifetime against WMU head man Steve Hawkins…Zips are 13-7 lifetime at Quicken Loans Arena…WMU is 17-27 lifetime in MAC Tournament play.
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