Men's basketball closes gap late, drops road game to Akron
Before the game, Central Michigan men's basketball coach Keno Davis emphasized establishing tempo and controlling the boards.
Instead, it was the Zips who came out firing on all cylinders to open the game, grabbing a quick lead that they would never relinquish despite a valiant comeback effort by CMU.
The Chippewas (14-5, 3-3 Mid-American Conference) have dropped three of their past four games after a 70-67 loss on Jan. 22 to Akron (11-8, 3-3).
The defeat marks the 17th consecutive year CMU has faltered at James A. Rhodes Arena.
How it happened
Akron got off to a fast start over the Chippewas, leading by as many as 12 in the opening minutes.
The Chippewas struggled mightily to put the ball in the basket to start the game, and both teams played sloppy basketball in an ugly first half.
CMU forced 11 first-half turnovers on the Zips, but was unable to take advantage due to the fact that the Chippewas shot a mere 24.1% from the field in the first half.
The Chippewas went into the break down 29-22. Davis was optimistic about his team’s defense.
“To come out and give up only 29 points in the first half to Akron, it’s great,” Davis said. “Just not as great when you only score 22.”
A pattern emerged throughout the second half: CMU scored and threatened Akron’s lead, whereupon the Zips immediately responded by countering the Chippewas’ points.
The Chippewas cut the lead to two on a Kevin McKay layup with 13:50 to play.
A triple by Akron’s Channel Banks stretched the lead back to five. Moments later, Shawn Roundtree Jr. spurted by three Akron defenders and took contact as he finished a layup to make the score 43-40 at the 12:05 mark.
The two teams continued their point exchange, with Akron refusing to concede their lead.
After the Zips built a nine point lead with 6:22 remaining, the Chippewas made a run spearheaded by senior Larry Austin Jr., who had been feeling sick all day but found a second wind late in the second half. Austin hit a 3-pointer cutting the Zips’ lead to 62-59 with 44 seconds to play.
Despite the late-game efforts of Austin and a slew of Chippewa 3-pointers to keep it a one-possession game, the Zips maintained their lead. A series of Akron free throw conversions kept the CMU run at bay to eke out a 70-67 victory.
Austin paced CMU with 19 points, while Roundtree and Rob Montgomery tallied 11 points apiece. Dallas Morgan contributed 10 additional points, respectively.
“I’m proud of the way we came out in the second half and competed,” Davis said. “We outrebounded them by seven in the second half and held them to 36% from the floor.”
CMU travels to Toledo (15-4, 3-3 MAC) for its next game on Jan. 26 at Savage Arena.
“To come out on top against Toledo, we need to keep our intensity and effort,” Davis said. “I’m not really worried about that with this group, but the season is long and there are no games off in this conference.”
