The University of Akron men’s basketball team unleashed a 3-point barrage on Ohio Tuesday night at Rhodes Arena, but unlike Saturday’s game when Bowling Green wilted under the pressure, the Bobcats rallied.
The Zips (23-7, 12-5 in Mid-American Conference) allowed a 19-point lead to slip to five by halftime, but they eventually regrouped and worked their way to a 91-76 victory.
With the win and Central Michigan’s victory over Ball State, UA clinched the MAC East Division, the MAC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament despite some late-season struggles.
“The good thing was once we got to this part of the schedule we had that security blanket of that we were going to play at home,” Zips coach Keith Dambrot said.
For good measure, UA also set a team record for most 3-pointers made in a game with 20.
Dambrot said one of the keys to the game was taking advantage of spurts.
“We felt like if we could get more spurts than them, we were going to win,” he said. “We have to use that ‘spurtability’ to our advantage.”
He could have called them bunches from a couple of players.
Reggie McAdams continued the assault on the nets he started last week, collecting 21 points while hitting 7-of-15 from behind the 3-point line. Forward Kwan Cheatham Jr. matched his point total with 21, and hit 5-of-12 of his 3-point attempts. He also produced a monstrous night on the glass with 12 rebounds.
Jaaron Simmons led all scorers with 25 points and seven assists for the Bobcats (19-10, 10-7).
“It’s not the most ornate setup for personnel,” Ohio coach Saul Phillips said of the Zips lineup. “It’s shooters and a really good post player, and I like that. I think that’s a pretty good way to do it.”
The Zips dominated in almost every aspect of the game, especially 3-point shooting (20-of-43). But they also crashed the boards aggressively, outrebounding the Bobcats 47-28. They crushed OU 18-4 on the offensive glass, getting 19 second-chance points in the process.
The Bobcats might have blinked early in the game and few could blame them. After missing their first four shots, the Zips hit their next five to take a 15-2 lead, sending the most electric home crowd of the season into a prolonged state of euphoria.
Make that short-lived.
The Zips, who until 9:08 of the first half scored only on 3-pointers, soon drifted into an offensive deep freeze. Reasonable looks from the arc soon turned into contested shots as the Bobcats started to guard that area of the floor closer.
As a result, Ohio launched an 18-1 run and threatened to go into the locker room with a lead. But instead of folding, the Zips regrouped and resumed their offensive onslaught.
George M. Thomas can be reached at gmthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Zips blog at www.ohio.com/zips. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeorgeThomasABJ.
