CLEVELAND: One ill-advised timeout with six-tenths of a second left may have helped seal the fate of No. 8 seed Eastern Michigan Thursday against the University of Akron.
After the top-seeded Zips rallied from a 12-point deficit for a 64-63 lead, the Eagles missed a shot with nine seconds to play. A rebound by UA center Isaiah “Big Dog” Johnson led to freshman guard Josh Williams (St. Vincent-St. Mary) racing down the court for a breakaway layup — which he missed with less than a second to play.
The Eagles corralled the rebound, but coach Rob Murphy called a timeout he didn’t have, drawing a technical foul. UA point guard Noah Robotham then sank the subsequent free throw to give the Zips a 65-63 victory in a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Zips advanced to the MAC semifinals for the 11th consecutive year. They will play No. 12 seed Bowling Green — a 62-59 upset winner over No. 4 Central Michigan Thursday — at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Quicken Loans Arena.
The technical foul provided a weird end to a weirder game the Zips probably had no business winning. They were out-shot — 21-of-62 (33.9 percent) compared to the Eagles’ 22-of-58 (37.9 percent) — and out-rebounded 44-38. On 3-pointers, their calling card, the Zips hit just 9-of-33 against Eastern Michigan’s zone defense.
Of course, six days without playing a game will make any team look rusty, and by that measure the Zips were like the Tin Man when Dorothy discovered him in Oz.
“I don’t like sitting around, especially this time of year — I like to play,” Zips coach Keith Dambrot said.
That issue was evident early. Despite owning a 35-32 lead at halftime, the Zips were struggling. They then opened the second half shooting 1-of-10 from the floor, and the Eagles took advantage with a 16-3 run to take a 48-38 lead with 13:14 to play.
The Eagles’ lead peaked at 56-44 before the Zips showed any consistency on offense. UA didn’t panic, however.
“Just coming down to having been in that spot before,” Johnson said. “We huddled together and just talked about how there was a lot of time left, a lot of game left and just going out at the end and just playing basketball honestly. And the way we shoot the ball is like no lead is really safe with us.”
Consecutive 3-pointers by Antino Jackson and Reggie McAdams sparked a 9-0 run that cut the lead to three (56-53) with 6:30 left.
McAdams finished with 20 points (4-of-9 on 3-pointers) and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Zips before fouling out with 42 seconds left. Johnson delivered a double-double with 19 points and 16 boards.
“We’ve been in those games before and, I mean, it’s tremendous character by our teammates,” McAdams said. “I know I went out with a foul, fifth foul, and you could look in all those guys’ eyes and know we’re just going to give it all we’ve got, fight to the very end, and that’s what we did.”
Despite the rally, UA still had to claw its way to the finish. After a 3-pointer by guard Antino Jackson (11 points, four assists) pulled UA to within one with 3:16 left, Eagles guard Raven Lee (a game-high 23 points) answered with a 3 of his own to make it 61-57 with 2:54 left.
Two free throws and a 3-pointer by Robotham put the Zips in front 62-61 with 53 seconds to play. Lee answered again with two free throws to give the Eagles a 63-62 lead with 42 seconds left.
Johnson, who battled Eagles freshman center James Thompson IV (15 points, 12 rebounds) the entire game, converted a layup to put the Zips ahead 64-63 with 26 seconds to play, setting up the memorable final seconds.
The Eagles head coach Rob Murphy gave praise where it was due.
“A lot of credit to Akron because Isaiah Johnson played well, Reggie McAdams played well,” he said. “But I thought we did enough defensively. We held this team to 65 points. Coming into the game, if you can hold them to 65, you beat Akron.”
That wasn’t the case Thursday afternoon.
Dribbles
• Dambrot, who is chairman of the NCAA men’s basketball rules committee, said the technical foul call at the end benefited the Eagles by stopping the clock and giving them a final possession. He said it’s something that may have to be examined.
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.