CLEVELAND — Any questions about how Akron coach Keith Dambrot would handle his point guard personnel for the Mid-American Conference Tournament was answered Friday in the Zips’ three-point win against Kent State.
He was forced to juggle his backcourt for this weekend’s tournament after starting point guard Alex Abreu, a junior, was arrested for marijuana trafficking last Thursday and was indefinitely suspended from the team.
As expected, freshman Carmelo Betancourt, Akron’s regular backup, earned the start against the Golden Flashes, which beat the Zips (25-6, 14-2 MAC) in their regular season finale a week prior.
After Betancourt was sidelined with a pair of early fouls, however, Dambrot inserted a twist in the Zips’ backcourt that will likely hold constant aginst Ohio in the MAC Championship game Saturday.
Junior Nick Harney, regularly a forward, stepped in and played 14 minutes at point guard in the first half. The sinewy 6-foot-8, 210-pound Harney hardly fits the mold of a point guard, but he committed only one turnover before the break as opposed to Betancourt’s three.
Akron’s offense was visibly less organized under either player’s direction than it was Abreu’s, however.
Harney ended the game with 11 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting. He was one of three Akron players in double figures.
“Alex Abreu was a good player for them, but they play 11 guys,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said. “They’re a good basketball team with him and they’re a good basketball team without him.”
When playing point guard, Harney will present a mismatch with Ohio (24-8, 14-2 MAC) senior D.J. Cooper, who is listed as six feet tall and 176 pounds.
Cooper is quicker and a much better ball handler, but Harney is more physical and at home in the paint.
Akron’s interior duo of Zeke Marshall, a senior center, and Demetrius Treadwell, a junior forward, was cranking on all cylinders Friday.
After scoring only four points and grabbing no offensive rebounds in the first half, Marshall let loose after the break to finish with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He also had seven overall blocks — five of which came in the second half.
Treadwell was consistent throughout the game. He earned 14 points and 12 rebounds against the Golden Flashes.
Christian has explained the challenge Marshall and Treadwell present numerous times this season. He said their presence is unparalleled in the conference.
“There’s not many people putting seven-footers out there that can control the paint and a six-eight player like Treadwell that kind of has his way with a lot of people,” Christian said.
Saturday marks the Zips' seventh consecutive MAC Championship game. They are 2-4 in their previous six.
Ohio is 6-1 all-time in the conference’s title game. The most recent two MAC Championship game wins came at the Zips’ expense, in 2010 and 2012.
A win Saturday would make the Bobcats the second team in conference history to win three titles in four years.
Ohio's 2010 meeting with Akron, which capped this class of seniors’ first MAC Tournament, ended as a six-point Ohio overtime win, while last year’s tilt favored Ohio by a single point.
Cooper had 23 points in each game.
Abreu was Akron’s point leader in last year’s title game, as he scored 19 points.
The Bobcats enter the game 40 minutes from their third NCAA Tournament berth in four years. That experience — something the Zips lack — could favor Ohio in crunch time.
“When you accomplished what they accomplished, the biggest fight is for them to remember how they got there,” Christian said.
The circumstances are glaringly similar. Game on.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
