AKRON, Ohio — The Akron Zips used a late second-half rally to earn a 71-65 victory over the Toledo Rockets Tuesday evening in Rhodes Arena.
Down, 49-38, with 10:36 to play, the Zips responded with an 18-6 run to regain the lead and pull out the victory. Kwan Cheatham scored 21 points to lead all scorers including 4-of-8 on 3-pointers. But just as effective was the final 10 minutes for Isaiah Johnson who finished with 18 points using his muscle inside.
“When we went down 11 that was a test for our guys, but the rest we gave our main guys at that time won the game for us,” Akron coach Keith Dambrot said after winning his 300th game, and 30th straight victory at home.
At one point in the game the Rockets were dominating the Zips inside, 22-8. But once Akron’s size gained control of the paint, that figure ended at 28-26 in Toledo’s favor thanks to a meaningless layup at the buzzer.
Before the Zips woke up, this appeared to be Toledo’s game to win.
“I look at this as a lost opportunity,” Toledo head coach Todd Kowalczyk said.
Steve Taylor led Toledo with 13 points, but only three in the second half.
The first half: Defense was optional in the opening half for the Zips as Toledo shot a sizzling 51.9 percent during the first 20 minutes to take a 37-33 halftime lead. The Rockets outscored Akron 9-3 in the final four minutes of the half to take the lead. The two teams combined for 29 3-pointers in the opening half, but the real difference was Toledo’s 18-8 advantage in the paint.
Taylor, a 6-9, 240-pond senior transfer from Marquette, had the size and the athleticism to counter Akron’s 6-10, 290-pound senior Isaiah Johnson. Taylor had 10 points and seven rebounds at the half to Johnson’s five points and three rebounds.
By the numbers: Toledo’s record may not look like it, but the Rockets are much like Central Michigan, which is to say very strong on offense. UT entered the Akron game averaging 80.6 points a game in conference play, third best in the league. The Rockets are also decent on defense, sixth in the 12-team league allowing 77.0 points a game. Toledo is also the top field goal shooting team in the league at 50.5-percent.
Akron is second to the Rockets in field goal percentage at 47.4-percent. The Zips average more 3-pointers a game, 10.3 to 8.7 for Toledo. The Zips however are a tad better defensively, ninth in the MAC while Toledo is 10th.
Next up: Akron plays its second straight home game, 7 p.m. Friday, against Kent State before finishing the season with three of its final four games on the road. Toledo remains on the road at Northern Illinois on Saturday, then three of its final four games at home.
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