Ohio fell to Akron by a score of 65-46 Saturday in the Mid-American Conference title game. Follow our chronological coverage of the game below.
Pregame
It goes without saying how much Saturday’s Mid-American Conference Championship game means to Ohio.
The game offers the Bobcats (24-8, 14-2 MAC) a chance to leave a lasting impression upon conference play equaled by few before them.
Only one team in conference history has won three championships in four years — Kent State from 1999-2002. Those Golden Flashes and the 1989 and 1990 Ball State squads are the lone MAC teams to repeat as conference champions.
Both of those marks are up for grabs Saturday.
Akron (25-6, 14-2 MAC) won both the teams' regular season meetings, but has fallen to Ohio in the MAC Championship game in each of its last two opportunities.
Look back at the Bobcats' last game, an 11-point win against Western Michigan, here. Read beat reporter Jim Ryan's game previews here and here. Follow him and The Post Sports on Twitter for game updates.
First Half
Ohio's starters will be the same as they were Friday against Western Michigan. Guards Walter Offutt, a redshirt senior, D.J. Cooper, a senior and Nick Kellogg, a junior, and forwards Reggie Keely, a senior, and T.J. Hall, a junior.
Akron senior center Zeke Marshall scored the game's first points on a layup less than 30 seconds into the contest.
Keely followed suit, however, on his next two touches.
Marshall battled back with a three-point play with 17:36 remaining in the first half.
The score favored Akron by one at that point.
Akron senior guard Brian Walsh then hit a three-pointer to increase Akron's lead, but Keely hit a jumper on Ohio's ensuing possession to knot the game at eight at the first media timeout.
Ohio senior forward Ivo Baltic was the first reserve to check into the game for the Bobcats. He did so at the 15-minute mark, right before Offutt scored his first points of the game.
Keely then converted a layup to keep his shooting percentage perfect on the night.
Ohio redshirt junior guard Jon Smith checked in at the 13:52 mark.
Junior guard Ricardo Johnson was the next off the bench, but not before Smith scored his first points of the game — a layup on another Cooper feed.
Kellogg continued the offensive assault with a steal and contested layup to increase Ohio's lead to eight points.
Ohio sophomore guard Stevie Taylor and junior guard Travis Wilkins made their first appearances inside the 12-minute mark.
Offutt hit the Bobcats' first three-pointer with a bomb from the top of the key with 11:30 on the clock.
Ohio led 19-12 at that point.
Keely upped that lead to nine by the 9:35 mark after a pair of free throws.
Offutt and Akron senior forward Chauncey Gilliam then traded layups before Akron junior forward Nick Harney was able to break free for an open dunk.
Hall was the next to get on the board, as he pushed the score to 25-16 in Ohio's favor with a short step-back jumper with seven minutes left in the first half.
Marshall continued to be a force at both ends of the floor, though, as he blocked a Keely turnaround attempt and proceeded to get fouled on the other end soon thereafter.
He continued to attack the rim throughout the first half, and he had a game-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting at the four-minute mark.
Ohio led by seven at that point.
The Zips went on a 6-0 run leading into the final possession of the half to bring the score within one, however.
Hall drove the hoop from the perimeter and laid in a floater as time expired to give the Bobcats a three-point lead heading into halftime.
Halftime: Ohio 29, Akron 26
Ohio's shooters cooled off as the first half wore on, which resulted in Akron narrowing its lead from as much as nine to as few as two inside the final minute.
Keely was Ohio's main offensive producer, as he had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Offutt had seven on 3-of-5 shooting and also recorded four rebounds.
Akron was led by Marshall, who made good of three of his four attempts for eight points.
Cooper was quiet in the first half, as he had as many turnovers (3) as he did assists.
Ohio scored 20 points in the paint to Akron's 16, but the Zips' five second chance points trumped the Bobcats' empty effort in that category.
Second Half
Gilliam started the second half with a strong layup, which was followed by a Cooper three-point miss — his second of the half.
The Zips pulled even on their next trip down the floor when Marshall converted a free throw attempt.
Hall was then whistled for his third foul and was replaced by Baltic.
The Bobcats got their first break of the half when Akron junior forward Demetrius Treadwell was called for an offensive foul and technical with about 18 minutes remaining in the half.
The score was tied at 31 after a pair of Cooper free throw makes.
Offutt gave the Bobcats their first lead since falling behind on a baseline drive with the shot clock ticking down.
The Zips kept pounding away on the interior, though, and scored on two straight layup drives capped by a transition three-pointer.
The Zips continued to charge on an 9-0 run to the 13:30 point.
Akron led by seven at the 13-minute mark.
Smith stopped the immediate bleeding with a layup off a Cooper feed with 13:30 to play.
He picked up his fourth foul on the Zips' next possession, though, and headed to the bench as a result.
The Bobcats moved within five on a Hall drive with 12 minutes remaining.
That lead remained through the 9:37 mark, and increased to seven once again after a Harney floater on the Zips' next possession.
Cooper hit a free throw with 7:49 remaining to bring the game back within four points.
A Treadwell layup and Harney three-point play extended it to 11 — the Zips' highest margin of the game — with 6:44 remaining.
The Zips held that lead through the 5:40 mark, and extended it to 12 with a Gilliam free throw.
That lead was extended to 15 by the 3:41 mark, by which Ohio was in a sort of desperation mode.
Keely converted the Bobcats' second-to-last field goal with 1:37 remaining — a layup the Zips didn't seem to care they surrendered.
Their lead was insurmountable at that point.
Taylor scored once more, but the Zips' lead was secured.
Final: Akron 65, Ohio 46
Shots weren't falling for the Bobcats — especially in the second half, when they went 5-for-27 from the field and 0-12 from beyond the arc. That proved to be much of the difference for Ohio, which held a three-point lead at halftime. It wasn't schematics or game plans, but execution that outdid the Bobcats Saturday.
Statistics
Keely: 19 points
Offutt: Nine points, 11 rebounds
Hall: Seven points
-------
Treadwell: 13 points, 10 rebounds
Gilliam: 13 points
Harney: 11 points, four rebounds
Marshall: 10 points, nine rebounds
Reactions
"I’m trying to win the NCAA Tournament, honestly. I feel like there’s nothing that can stop us." — Marshall
"Obviously it was a game of two halves. The first half, we shot 48 percent, guarded really, really well and played unbelievably hard. In the second half we played hard and just couldn’t make a shot." — Christian
"The NCAA Tournament was definitely the goal, but it’s a blessing to be out here to play ball, especially for us seniors. I know I’m going to cherish regardless whatever we’re playing for our last few games." — Cooper
"We had six turnovers each half, took 27 shots each half, we missed probably seven layups on top of the basket, we probably missed six open threes — that’s what happens." — Christian
Up Next
Ohio (24-9, 14-2 MAC) will wait in hopes of receiving an NIT bid. In the meantime, Akron (26-6, 14-2 MAC) will gear up for the NCAA Tournament.
