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See Jane Style:
UA visits Niagara, then hosts Dayton, which is close to making AP poll
By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Wednesday, Dec 03, 2008
The University of Akron basketball team has won twice as many games as it has lost but is at risk of falling to .500 this week.
The Zips (4-2) have stern tests on the road tonight in Niagara Falls, N.Y., against Niagara (5-1) and at home Saturday night against Dayton (7-0), which defeated No. 15 Marquette 89-75 last weekend and just missed the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, standing 27th.
''Both are playing great and we know we are going to have to play better than we have been,'' Zips coach Keith Dambrot said. ''Niagara has probably their best team since we played them four years ago.
''Dayton just took it to Marquette, and they should be ranked in the Top 25. They are really good.''
Niagara, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, won 42 games over the past two seasons. The Purple Eagles are coming off a championship in the Philly Hoop Group Classic in Philadelphia.
Niagara is led by 5-foot-11 junior guard Tyrone Lewis (17.0 scoring average), the MVP of the conference tournament two years ago as a freshman.
The Purple Eagles also have gotten solid play from junior guard Rob Garrison (15.7), a transfer from Connecticut, and junior forward Bilal Benn (12.3), a transfer from Villanova.
Dayton, a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, is off to its best start since 2003-04.
The Flyers, who defeated Troy 87-70 on Tuesday night, are led by sophomore forward Chris Wright (13.8, before Tuesday's game) and junior swingman Marcus Johnson (11.3), a St. Vincent-St. Mary graduate.
Meanwhile, the Zips are coming off an uneven performance last weekend in the Legends Classic in New Jersey.
UA struggled against a 1-3-1 zone in losing to Eastern Kentucky 69-57 on Saturday night. Then on Sunday night, the Zips did whatever they wanted in overwhelming winless Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41, as senior forward Nate Linhart matched his career high with 19 points.
''We didn't have the knowledge to get it done the first night. We were right there, but we struggled all night because of the intricacies of what they did with their zone,'' Dambrot said. ''We played with much more toughness the second night.''
After the Dayton game, the Zips are off for one week before hosting North Carolina A&T on Dec. 13.
Steward is out
Ronnie Steward, a substitute guard for the Zips, will be out about a month with a medical condition known as compartment syndrome.
Steward, a redshirt freshman, has had surgery on his right leg for the condition. Compartment syndrome is an affliction in which increased pressure within a confined space impairs blood supply and could lead to nerve damage if not treated properly.
He started the first three games but has given way to true freshman Anthony ''Humpty'' Hitchens in the starting lineup for the past three game. Steward is averaging 3.3 points.
Steward, a Columbus Eastmoor Academy graduate, missed all of last season with a hip flexor.
Dambrot said he expects Steward back for the Mid-American Conference season, which opens Jan. 10 at Miami.
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
The University of Akron basketball team has won twice as many games as it has lost but is at risk of falling to .500 this week.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 12:50 PM, 12/03/2008
lets go zips and beat em both!
North Hill, OH
Posted 09:33 PM, 12/03/2008
1 down, 1 to go. GO ZIPS! BEAT DAYTON!
