CLEVELAND: Let's face it, this is the game everyone wanted.

Well, maybe not everyone.

There were two teams that lost Friday night, one in the toughest of ways.

So let's just say it's the dream game everyone in Summit and Portage counties wanted. And the rest of the Northeast Ohio viewing area.

Kent State and Akron in the Mid-American Conference Tournament final.

The best team in the MAC all season against the team that had its hearts and hopes dashed in this same game a year ago.

Kent State, which appears to have its NCAA Tournament ticket already printed, against UA, which
needs a win to gain a bid it wanted so badly a year ago.

Kent State won for the 27th time this season in the second game of Friday's semifinals, beating a tough, gritty Miami team that came oh-so-close to the upset. KSU won 49-47 thanks to another game-winning shot by standout guard Al Fisher, this one with 3.5 seconds left against a double-team along the lane.

With 27 wins, it would seem the Golden Flashes will play somewhere next week in the NCAAs. If UA wins tonight's automatic bid, it's seem likely the MAC would earn two spots in the NCAA Tournament, and who would have predicted that happening?

Unless, of course, the committee goes wacky and decides some 18-13 Big Ten team is more worthy than a 27-7 Kent State team.

Don't discount that happening. Not with the NCAA brackets weighted toward the bigger schools and a committee known for dissing mid-majors with 26 wins.

So let it simply be said that both KSU and UA would prefer a win tonight — just to make things certain.

The two rivals played two heated games this year, and Kent State had the better of the Zips in both.

In January, the Golden Flashes shut down the Zips in the second half for a win that was easier than the score indicated.

Last Sunday, the Golden Flashes shut down the Zips for 38 minutes, then tried to give away the game despite leading by 10 with 1:57 to go.

UA almost took it, but lost on a 3-pointer by Fisher with 2.7 seconds left.

Think tonight won't be intense? And loud?

UA's Jeremiah Wood was asked if he would prefer to play Kent State or Miami, and he answered without hesitation.

''Definitely Kent,'' Wood said.

''Glutton for punishment,'' UA coach Keith Dambrot muttered.

Yes, he was joking.

Dambrot could joke after the game his team played in beating Western Michigan. The Zips had one of their finest games of the season in their 73-62 win, making the tired cliche ''team effort'' into a reality.

UA played a physical team. Western Michigan center Joe Reitz, an offensive tackle playing center on the basketball floor, is as wide as the lane and as movable as an ore boat.

The Zips took the Broncos' punch in the mouth and punched back.

Not literally, of course. That's just the way Dambrot described the win, as impressive a game as UA has played all season.

When UA traveled to Western Michigan in the regular season, it lost by 20 and was outrebounded 38-21.

Friday night, the Zips had more rebounds, more assists and fewer turnovers.

That usually is a pretty good formula.

Dambrot said Nick Dials' floor game was the key.

Nate Linhart's defense on David Kool (first-team All-MAC) also was vital.

So was the inside play of Chris McKnight, who shot 8-for-10.

Add free throws down the stretch by Darryl Roberts and Brett McKnight.

There was Wood's inside play and Cedrick Middleton's early shooting and, well, you name it.

In Friday's late finale, Miami gave Kent State trouble, but the Flashes showed the heart of a team that has proven much throughout this season.

They bring the league's dominant defender in Haminn Quaintance to the final, and the league's Player of the Year in Fisher.

They bring the best team in the MAC to the final, where they belong.

Imagine . . .

The best team in the MAC playing a team that is playing better than it has all season.

Both from Northeast Ohio.

Yes, there are tickets available.