2008 Woodie Awards
Zips too much inside and out
Poor second half ends Chippewas' season in quarters
By: Tim Ottusch
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: Sports
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The Akron guard's shot put the team up by 18 points, and essentially sealed the Zips 81-60 win against Central in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena.
The 3-pointer was part of a 9-1 run that eventually put Akron up by 22 about midway through the second half.
"It was a tough way to end our season," said CMU coach Ernie Zeigler. "We had, in our minds, different aspirations for things to turn out in different ways, but unfortunately we ran into a team that was a lot more hungry than we were."
Central could not handle Zips forward Jeremiah Woods. Woods had 17 points, nine rebounds and was the biggest reason for the team's 36-20 edge in points in the paint. CMU held a 38-24 edge against Akron when it beat the Zips 65-64 on Jan. 26 at Rose Arena.
"We did a good job of throwing the ball inside, which I thought was key," said Akron coach Keith Dambrot. "I think last time we played them we didn't do a very good job of that."
Dambrot said his team's defensive effort against senior guard Giordan Watson was key. Watson shot just 3-of-11 and 0-of-4 from 3-point distance. Six-foot, seven-inch forward Nate Linhart's lengthy stature smothered Watson throughout the game.
"That length bothered him. (Linhart)'s done a good job on Watson every time we've played him," Dambrot said. "And in fairness to Watson, we've caught him tired both times. We caught him tired last year in the tournament and he played a lot of minutes last night. So we wanted to pick him up early and make him work."
Central's first 18 points came from 3-pointers and it didn't score a two-point field goal until the half's final eight minutes.
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