 AKRON 77, EASTERN MICHIGAN 47
Eastern Michigan (10-13, 5-4 MAC) suffered its third loss in the last four games, but remained in first place in the West due to Ball State’s loss at home to Miami earlier in the day. Akron, on the other hand, remains on a roll.
After a victory over Toledo on Wednesday night, Keith Dambrot said his team has a lot to play for. A huge incentive carrot is the number one seed at the 2012 FirstEnergy MAC Men’s Basketball Tournament next month in Cleveland. At least right now, the Zips are tracking toward a high seed.
In defeating Western Michigan, UA picked up its fifth consecutive victory – the longest Zips winning streak of the season. They have won nine of their last 10 and 13 of their last 15 to stay atop the Eastern Division by one game over Ohio and Buffalo, who also won their games on Saturday.
“I was a little concerned going into the game. Other teams have struggled against their zone (defense). No one has chosen to play us (in) a zone this year. It was the first time this season, so we went to a simplistic approach against it (offensively),” Dambrot said after the game.
Four Zips players scored in double figures, led by junior forward Chauncey Gilliam, who scored 13 points with two steals. Fifth-year senior forward Nikola Cvetinovic added 12 points and seven rebounds while junior center Zeke Marshall and senior guard Brett McClanahan each scored 11.
WMU reserve forward Matt Balkema led all scorers in the game with 15 points, 11 coming in the second half, along with six rebounds. Guard Antonio Green added 13, also coming off the bench.
As in win over UT Wedneday, Saturday’s game was decided midway through the first half. UA started strong, opening a 10-3 lead a little over four minutes into the contest when sophomore transfer guard Brian Walsh connected on a three-pointer from the right arc.
The Zips then pulled away with a 14-0 run in a little over three minutes, opening a 31-19 lead at the 7:21 mark on a pair of Marshall free throws. Their largest lead of the half was 23 on two occasions, the last being the halftime score of 39-16 when Cventinovic scored on a layup.
“We came out and were ready to play.” Gilliam said. “We had been sluggish the last couple of games starting out so it was big for our morale to come out fast.”
Foul issues compounded the challenge for Eastern. The Eagles committed 16 first half fouls with their two leading scorers, senior guard Darnell Lampley ( 13.5 per game),and junior forward Jamell Harris (5.4 with 6.1 rebounds per game), each picking up three while scoring a combined six points (three each).
To the credit of EMU head coach Rob Murphy, his team was much more competitive in the second half, using a 13-2 run to close the deficit to 15 at 52-37 on a twisting layup by sophomore guard Anthony Strickland.
It was be the closest the Eagles would get for the remainder of the game as the Zips went on a 13-4 run to regain control and complete the victory, The final score equaled their largest margin of victory in 2011-12 when they defeated Division III Hiram College on November 9. It was also the third time during MAC play this season that UA has scored more than 80 points in a game.
Foul trouble hampered EMU in the second half as Harris picked up a pair of fouls within the first five minutes, leaving the game with 14:47 remaining after scoring just five points. Lampley played carefully, but he also fouled out, leaving with 9:37 remaining and just eight points to his credit.
The beneficiary of their departures was Balkema. The junior center scored 11 points in the second half en route to his career-high 15 points, He also led the Eagles with six rebounds. It was the third time in the last five games that Balkema led the team in rebounds.
Both teams are back in action on Wednesday as Akron travels to Western Michigan while EMU returns home to the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti to face Kent State.
GAMEBOOK:
KEY MOMENT: This was a game that was decided in the first half when Akron used a 14-0 run to open a 31-9 lead at the 7:21 mark. From that point on, EMU could not recover.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: MATT BALKEMA-EMU. The junior center from Warren, Michigan set a career high with 15 points and led the Eagles in rebounds with six. Eleven of those points came in the second half when both Darnell Lampley and Jamell Harris each fouled out
KEY STAT OF THE GAME: 1) Akron’s domination of the rebounds, 46-29, the largest differential so far in MAC play (+17). 2) EMU’s bench outscoring Akron’s 30-27
NOTEBOOK:
The game was the 39th lifetime meeting with Akron holding a 30-29 advantage (12-6 at home)…Have won nine of the last 11 meetings in the series…EMU’s last win was February 2, 2011 60-56 (UA’s last loss to a Western Division opponent)…The Zips victory moved head coach Keith Dambrot, an Akron native and UA graduate, into a tie for second place on the all-time Zips win list with 178...Zeke Marshall-AKR moved into six place on the all-time MAC Blocked Shots list with 224. He had four in the game all in the second half…Marshall has scored in double figures in his last three games…Chauncey Gilliam-AKR has scored in double figures in three straight games and four in his last five…EMU is 1-3 so far this season against the East…coming into the game EMU’s 5-3 MAC start was their best since 1997-98…Matt Balkema-EMU did double digit scoring for the fourth time this season… UA head coach Keith Dambrot is 13-3 lifetime against EMU (1-0 against Rob Murphy)…Dambrot was an assistant at EMU from 1986-89…IT was Alumni weekend at UA with many former players in attendance. During a timeout the 1971-72 team that made it to the Division II Championship Game losing to Roanoke College in Evansville, IN was honored many of the players were at the game and were introduced at center court |
