 AKRON 67, MARSHALL 51 Nikola Cvetinovic led all scorers with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting while Chauncey Gilliam finished with 12 points and Alex Abreu, Zeke Marshall and Demetrius Treadwell finished with 10 points each.
The Zips (8-6) closed the game shooting 45.9 percent from the floor (28-of-61) and forced 14 Marshall (9-4) turnovers. Akron committed just eight turnovers and had 16 assists on 28 made buckets. Akron finished with 40 points in the paint, including 26 in the second half alone.
Treadwell led all players with nine boards, including an impressive eight on the offensive glass.
Akron opened the second half with a strong 9-3 run to take a 36-30 lead and force a Herd timeout with 16:16 to go in the game. Quincy Diggs pushed the Zips' advantage to 41-32 with 14:51 on the clock thanks to a long 3-pointer.
A Cvetinovic layup and a fast break layup by Abreu from Gilliam pushed the Akron advantage to 53-39 at the 8:45 mark of the second half. Eighteen of Akron's 26 points in the second half to that point came in the paint (14 in the first half).
Nick Harney gave Akron its largest lead of the day (18) with a dunk at the 4:43 mark to force MU's fourth timeout. The dunk gave the Zips a 62-44 advantage. The lead would hold, as MU could not get any close than 13 points.
After a repair delay (bent rim) to start the game, the Zips opened up the contest by posting the first eight points, forcing MU to call timeout with 16:58 on the clock (8-0). The Herd cut the lead to 10-8 with 13:43 left in the half, but could not take the lead.
Marshall finally got its first lead of the half (16-15) with 7:29 to go before the intermission, but the Zips regained the lead on their next possession. From there, Akron held at least a share of the lead as the teams went to the locker room deadlocked at 27-27.
The Zips closed the half shooting 35.5 percent from the floor (11-of-31) and forced eight MU turnovers while posting an assist on 7-of-11 buckets. Akron converted eight offensive boards into 11 second-chance points.
Akron opens Mid-American Conference play on Jan. 7 when it travels to Oxford, Ohio, to face Miami (Ohio). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.
NOTES: The contest was the first New Year's Day game for the Zips in program history ... the start of the game was delayed 60 minutes to replace a bent rim on one of the baskets ... the Zips have won three-straight against the Thundering Herd ... five Akron players reached double figures in the scoring column for the third time this season.
Courtesy of Akron Athletics |
