Akron is the egg that coach Jim Christian and Ohio can’t seem to crack.
Following the script of last season’s clash between the Mid-American Conference rivals at The Convo, Sunday’s game went beyond the regularly allotted 40 minutes and spilled into a pair of overtime sessions.
But when the final whistle sounded, it was the Zips (10-5, 2-0 MAC) who came out on top with 83-80 for their fourth consecutive win against the Bobcats in the Christian era.
A good deal of credit for the victory came down to Akron’s dominance on the glass. The Zips held a 45-33 advantage on the boards, including 17 offensive rebounds.
“I think we did a poor job rebounding the basketball,” forward Maurice Ndour said. “I think they were tougher than us. We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and, I mean, I blame myself on that. I think I wasn’t tough enough today.”
It took the two squads more than two and a half minutes to find the bottom of the net, as the teams combined to miss their first eight shots before a thundering breakaway dunk from Ndour opened the scoring at 17:25 of the first half. He finished with a game-high 25 points.
The offensive struggles continued throughout the rest of the half as Ohio (11-4, 1-1 MAC) finished the opening 20 minutes with eight turnovers and eight made field goals, as the Bobcats went to the locker room with a paltry 31 shooting percentage.
It was Ohio’s fourth consecutive game shooting less than 40 percent from the field in the first half.
Early in the second half, things opened up offensively for both squads, but eventually Ohio took over the pace of the game, forcing Akron to run up and down the floor more often than they were comfortable with and eventually opening up an eight point lead on a 16-4 run with 9:18 remaining in the second half.
But Akron countered with a 10-2 run of its own, battling back to send the game to its first overtime.
Ohio built a four-point lead with 20 seconds left in the first overtime, but two difficult, contested jumpers by Akron senior forward Quincy Diggs sent the game to its second overtime.
“Coach Dambrot told me in my ear he was going to put the ball in my hands and I’ve got to make a play either for me or my teammates,” Diggs said.
The second overtime period saw the rivals trade baskets, but Akron’s stout defense and dominance of the boards helped propel it to a three-point lead with 13 seconds remaining in the second overtime.
Senior guard Nick Kellogg then had two opportunities to tie the game on what he called “average looks,” but each clanged off the iron in the final seconds. He finished with 19 points, while senior guard Travis Wilkins added 14 points, but the Bobcats shot just 5 of 20 from beyond the arc.
“I think we were definitely in position (to win),” Christian said. “I give them some credit. They made some big shots. They weren’t easy shots. But no doubt, we made some mental mistakes in those timeframes, didn’t finish some plays within those timeframes that you have to make to win the game.”
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