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Win gives UA third seed in MAC Tournament; Wood leads the way with 19 points and five assists
By Corey Ryan
Special to the Beacon Journal
Published on Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008
ATHENS: The University of Akron eked out an 80-77 win over Ohio University on Tuesday night to secure the third seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament next week in Cleveland.
Before that, the Zips have a home game Sunday against Kent State with a chance to exact some revenge for a January loss.
The Golden Flashes beat Miami on Tuesday night to lock up the top seed in the MAC Tournament. Western Michigan is the second seed.
The Zips (21-9, MAC 11-4) won their fourth consecutive road game, their first in the Convocation Center since February 2005, but it didn't come easy.
''We got handled inside a lot,'' UA coach Keith Dambrot said. ''I give our guys a lot of credit. We did something we never did before: won at Miami and won at Ohio.''
Every time the Bobcats (18-11, MAC 8-7) inched closer, someone had an answer. In the middle of the second half, it was consecutive 3-pointers by Nick Dials and Chris McKnight. With less than three minutes to play, it was Cedrick Middleton with a 3-pointer. A minute later, Jeremiah Wood had a dunk.
''We played a solid game, but it was not good enough to beat Akron,'' Ohio coach Tim O'Shea said. ''I was happy with our effort, but we lost to a good team.''
Ohio guard Bubba Walther went down firing, scoring 10 points in the final 1:44, including two very deep 3-pointers. Walther began his collegiate career at UA before transferring to Ohio two seasons ago. He finished with 22 points.
Wood finished with 19 points and five assists. Middleton matched his fellow senior with 19 points, connecting on 5-of-9 3-pointers.
Dials finished with 11 points and McKnight tallied 13.
The Zips had trouble with Bobcats forward Leon Williams, who still wanted to do some campaigning after the polls closed Tuesday night.
Williams, a senior Player-of-the-Year candidate, kept the Bobcats within striking distance with 17 first-half points, finishing with 23. His minutes dwindled in the second half because of foul trouble.
Dambrot chose not to promote any of his players for post
season awards but said it came down to two players, Williams and KSU guard Al Fisher.
''Our league is as deep as it's ever been,'' Dambrot said. ''I think there are six teams that could win (the tournament). It'll be interesting to see what happens.''
Ohio and Miami are tied for the No. 4 seed and the final first-round bye that comes with it. An Ohio win over Buffalo on Sunday at home secures that spot.
O'Shea said he didn't think momentum would be a factor going into the tournament in Cleveland.
''People have these theories and on a superficial level they may make sense,'' he said, pointing out that Miami lost its final two regular-season games before winning last season's tournament. ''(The tournament) is a crapshoot.''
The Zips can wait on the tournament. They have the Flashes on their mind.
''I've been looking forward to this game for a long time,'' Middleton said of his last game in Rhodes Arena. ''The place is going to be packed. It's always packed.''
Yes, it will be.
The UA Athletic Department announced Tuesday that the game is sold out.
It will tip off at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on FSN Ohio.
The student entrance will open at 4 p.m. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a complimentary ''Beat Kent State'' sign sponsored by Scorchers.
ATHENS: The University of Akron eked out an 80-77 win over Ohio University on Tuesday night to secure the third seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament next week in Cleveland.
Get the full article here.
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