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Surviving early game adds to Zips' strength
By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009
It was a near-miss, instant-elimination situation that played a major role in the Mid-American Conference title and NCAA Tournament berth for the University of Akron basketball team.
In the opening round of the MAC Tournament on March 10, the fifth-seeded Zips needed not one, but two, last-second shots to avoid being upset by 12th-seeded Toledo, which came in with 24 losses.
UA, which will play Gonzaga on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Portland, Ore., trailed the Rockets 62-50 with 5:56 left in regulation.
That was bad, but worse was that the Zips appeared to have no life and no chance for a comeback because their defense was nonexistent and their offense was nonfunctional.
Then came an abrupt turnaround and wild finish in which UA scored 28 points in the last 4:47 to force overtime and eventually win it 93-92.
After that, in the later rounds, the Zips were at their best in victories over Miami (73-63), Bowling Green (63-55) and Buffalo (65-53), who all had finished above them in the East Division.
''From that game on, it gave us momentum in every game we went into,'' said sophomore forward Brett McKnight, the Zips' leading scorer and winner of the MAC Sixth Man of the Year award. ''That helped give us unbelievable confidence to never give up at any point in the game. To never give up, just fight hard.
''Even when we get tired, coach always says, 'Dig down deep. Fight harder.' ''
The comeback included two sequences that had the look and feel of a UA loss.
In regulation, two free throws by Anthony Byrd with nine seconds left gave Toledo a 78-75 lead.
On the Zips' next possession, Brett McClanahan missed a
3-pointer, but the rebound came to McKnight, who batted it in the deep left corner to freshman Anthony ''Humpty'' Hitchens, who was playing on a sprained left ankle.
Hitchens sank the clutch, do-or-die 3-pointer to force overtime at 78-78.
In the extra session, Toledo's Clayton Sterling scored on a driving layup with six seconds left to put his team ahead 92-91. UA had one last chance and Hitchens delivered with a perfect inbounds pass from the left forecourt to McKnight, whose two-footer with 0.5 seconds left produced the winning points.
''When it was a double-digit deficit, you could feel the tension. Emotions were just crazy at that time,'' said sophomore guard Steve McNees, who started in place of Hitchens in the last three games and was named to the All-Tournament team. ''The older guys had blind faith that we were going to get it done. It filtered down to the younger guys. When we won, it carried over to the rest of the tournament.''
As the Zips (23-12) prepare to meet Gonzaga (26-5) in just the second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history, there is little doubt that there is relief in the UA community that a season-altering, early elimination was so close, but avoided.
''It's ironic that we struggled so much that first night and should have been out of here,'' Zips coach Keith Dambrot said in the news conference after the MAC title game.
Without a first-round bye, the Zips were forced to play and win four games in five days. Including the emotional loss at Kent State on March 8, UA had five grueling games in seven days.
''We had unbelievable belief in ourselves,'' said senior captain Nate Linhart, the Most Valuable Player in the MAC Tournament. ''Even when we had to play the four games, we believed we could beat anybody in the tournament. It showed how mentally tough we are.''
Zip shorts
Linhart has played in more games (133) and has been a part of more victories (96) than any player in school history. . . . Cleveland State also will be in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time. The Vikings' most recent appearance was 1986, the same as UA. . . . The Zips will fly by charter to Portland. . . . The official nickname of Gonzaga is the Bulldogs, but Zags has become almost universally used. . . . In the 2009 portion of its schedule, Gonzaga has won 19 of its 20 games, losing only to Memphis on Feb. 7. . . . This will be the first game between the two teams. . . . Gonzaga sold out its ticket allotment early Monday morning.
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Akron, Oh
Posted 09:51 AM, 03/17/2009
Congrats on the win; now beat Gonzaga, because you can, y'all earned your spot...Go Zips! Fear the Roo all the way!!
_________, OH
Posted 11:22 AM, 03/17/2009
Go Zippys!
hudson, oh
Posted 11:48 AM, 03/17/2009
Now watch as textbook prices zoom to pay for this trip.
Your $200 textbook will be $300 this fall.
GO ZIPS...To class, not gym class for the spoiled.
Akron, Oh
Posted 12:09 PM, 03/17/2009
Go ZIPS and build that state-of-the-art arena on campus and not downtown. See you guys in the Big 10 soon.
Akron, Oh
Posted 12:10 PM, 03/17/2009
stop it Patriot. You're embarassing yourself.
