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Lack of toughness disappoints Dambrot in BracketBuster defeat
Published on Sunday, Feb 22, 2009
Beacon Journal staff report
The 2009 ESPNU BracketBusters proved to a bust for the University of Akron basketball team.
The Zips (17-10) blew an 18-point first-half lead in losing to Valparaiso 74-66 Saturday night before a crowd of 2,479 at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Ind.
The Crusaders (8-20) trailed 37-19 at one point but outscored UA 55-29 in the last 26 minutes in one of the ESPNU BracketBusters games designed to showcase mid-major programs.
''We showed absolutely no toughness,'' UA coach Keith Dambrot said. ''We didn't handle prosperity well, or adversity.''
The Zips, who led 45-40 at halftime, moved ahead 59-54 with 10:07 left after Crusaders coach Homer Drew was assessed a technical foul.
That immediately ignited the crowd and the home team went on a 9-3 run, culminated by a Michael Rogers' basket that made it 63-62 with 5:13 left. It was Valparaiso's first lead of the game.
In the last four minutes, the Zips were within two points twice (66-64 and 68-66), but the Crusaders never gave up the lead. UA did not make a field goal in the final 3:25 and Valparaiso closed it out with a 6-0 run.
''We made no defensive plays and no offensive plays when it mattered,'' Dambrot said. ''We had some poor performances, no doubt about it.''
In the first half, UA shot 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the field in scoring 45 points. In the second half, UA shot 28.6 percent (6-of-21) in scoring 21 points.
The Zips hurt themselves by committing 18 turnovers and being outrebounded 32-25.
Senior forward Nate Linhart led UA with 13 points. Brothers Brett and Chris McKnight added 12 points each. Valparaiso had six players in double figures, led by 17 from sophomore Howard Little. Freshman De'Andre Haskins added 12 points and senior Urule Igbavboa had 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
In the first half, UA led just 7-6 when four different players — Brett McKnight, Brett McClanahan, Steve McNees and Darryl Roberts — hit 3-pointers to go ahead 19-13.
Later, a 14-3 run fueled by 3-pointers by Chris McKnight and Linhart, moved the Zips' advantage to 37-19.
But the Crusaders outscored the Zips 21-8 the rest of the first half to get to 45-40 at halftime.
A key moment came just before the halftime buzzer, when Valparaiso's Jake Diebler missed a desperation 3-pointer, was fouled and made all three foul shots to cut the deficit from eight points to five.
The loss for the Zips was part of a 4-8 showing for the Mid-American Conference in the BracketBusters.
The Zips return to MAC play on Thursday night at Buffalo, which leads the East Division.
Get the full article here.
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