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[mosimage} AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips led from the opening basket as they shot a season-high 60 percent from the field and had five players score in double figures Wednesday as they defeated the Toledo Rockets, 86-72, Wednesday night before a crowd of 3,037 at Rhodes Arena.
Akron (15-7, 7-1 MAC) picked up its fourth consecutive win. It was also the Zips eighth in their last nine games and 12th in the last 14, helping UA stay atop the Eastern Division by one game over Buffalo and Ohio. Both picked up victories (against Ball State and Northern Illinois respectively) on Wednesday.
Zips head coach Keith Dambrot, however, was somewhat disappointed after the game, explaining, “I thought we took a lot of things for granted. I thought we had that sense of entitlement tonight.”
Junior guard Quincy Diggs led UA’s balanced scoring attack with 16 points coming off the bench. Junior center Zeke Marshall added 14 with in the first half. Sophomore guard Alex Abreu also had 14, along with five assists and three steals. Junior forward Chauncey Gilliam added 11 and fifth-year senior F Nikola Cvetinovic netted 10 points along with 10 rebounds -- his third double-double of the season.
Toledo (10-12, 2-6 MAC) suffered its third loss in the last four games and is just 1-4 in MAC play on the road despite scoring 72 points -- a UT season high in MAC competition.
Sophomore forward Rian Pearson led all scorers in the game with a career-best 29 points and 12 rebounds along with four steals and one assist. It was Pearson’s sixth double-double of the season.
“He just punked us tonight.” Dambrot said. “He was fearless going in on Zeke (Marshall). Both he and (sophomore guard Julius) Brown. They went right at him.”
Both teams started strongly, but UA’s start was simply. The Zips opened the contest hitting 13 of their first 16 shots, including field goals on seven consecutive possessions in building a 31-17 lead at the 7:25 mark when Abreu connected for a 3-pointer from the left arc.
The Zips then started playing sloppy basketball, and UT took advantage by going on a 10-0 run to close the deficit to four, 31-27, at the 4:25 mark on a Pearson free throw. UA pushed the lead back out to nine, 38-29, at the 2:30 mark on a put-back layup by Marshall and went into the halftime with a nine-point advantage at 43-34.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first 20 minutes with UA connecting on 17-of-31 from the floor (54.8 percent) and hitting 5-of-14 from beyond the three-point arc. Marshall led the way with 11 points and four rebounds. Akron held a 16-10 rebounding edge.
UT was also clicking, going 13-of-23 from the field (56.5 percent) as Pearson matched Marshall’s 11 points with and four rebounds. Pearson also had three steals.
At the start of the second half, Toledo slowly ate away at the Zips lead, closing to within four, 50-46, at the 15:05 mark when sophomore center Matt Smith scored on a layup.
After the Zips extended the lead to five 51-46 on a free throw by senior guard Brett McClanahan, UT used a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Reese Holliday and a thunderous slam by Pearson to close the deficit to a single point 51-50, with 13:35 remaining.
That dunk turned out to be the turning point of the game as Pearson was called for a technical foul for hanging onto the rim. Abreu made both technical free throws to start a 9-0 run for UA, pushing the lead back out to ten, 60-50, when McClanahan connected on a three from the arc.
From then on, UA took control as the closest the Rockets could get for the remainder of the game was eight.
In the end, the Zips won by 12 for their sixth consecutive win over UT and their sixth straight over Western Division opposition dating back to last season.
UA continued its hot shooting in the second half. The Zips were, in fact, better as they went 13-of-19 from the floor (68.4 percent), finishing the game at a season-high 60 percent (30-for-50).
UT cooled off from the floor, hitting just 15-of-36 (41.7 percent) and finishing the game at 47.5 percent (28-for-59). However, no one was going to cool off Pearson. The transfer from Wisconsin-Green Bay was the fourth-leading scorer in the MAC coming into the game, averaging 16.4 points per game. He scored 18 points in the second half, going 6-for-12 from the field and was a perfect six-for-six from the free throw line.
The Zips won the rebound battle narrowly, 31-28. However, turnovers again were high as UA committed 18 in the contest, resulting in 19 Toledo points. The strength of UA, its bench, was big again, outscoring the Rockets substitutes 35-14.
“You have to win the games when you are not good.” Dambrot said. “In basketball, when you play 31 regular season games, you are not going to be great every night.”
Both teams are back in action on Saturday with UA hosting Western Division leading Eastern Michigan while UT heads back home to face Buffalo.
GAMEBOOK:
KEY MOMENT: With 13:35 remaining Toledo had cut Akron’s lead to one point 51-50 when Rian Pearson was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim. The Zips made the two technical free throws to start a 9-0 run that pushed the lead back out to 10
PLAYER OF THE GAME: RIAN PEARSON-TOLEDO. The sophomore from Raytown, Missouri scored a career-high 29 points with18 coming in the second half as he hit 9-of-18 from the field and 11—of-12 from the free throw line
KEY STAT OF THE GAME: Akron shooting 68.4% in the second half and 60% for the game
NOTEBOOK:
The game was the 54th in the series with the Rockets holding a narrow 30-25 advantage with Akron winning the last six in the series…UA is 15-8 lifetime against Toledo at home and 9-5 at Rhodes Arena…UA head coach Keith Dambrot picked up his 100th career home victory and is 35-12 lifetime against the MAC West in his career…Dambot is 10-5 lifetime against UT (2-1 vs. Tod Kowalczyk)…Quincy Diggs-AKR has scored in double figures in three of his last five games and led the Zips in scoring for the seventh time this season (tops on the club) and fourth time in MAC play…Zeke Marshall-AKR had five blocked shots, giving him 215 for his career…Rian Pearson-TOL - his 29 points was the most allowed to the UA opposition so far this season…Pearson’s previous career high was 27 earlier this season against Illinois-Chicago and previous MAC best was 23 in their previous game against Miami…The 29 points tied for the best by a Rocket so far this season (Julius Brown at Florida-Gulf Coast)
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