AKRON, Ohio — The Akron Zips extended their homecourt winning streak to 29 games, barely, with a 65-63 victory over Ball State in a Mid-American Conference game Tuesday evening in Rhodes Arena.
Isaiah Johnson hit a 15-foot jumper with two-tenths of a second left to secure a win on a night the team was clearly fatigued. But not Johnson, who said nothing was going through his mind on the game-winner.
“I’ve learned when I think too much, I mess up,” he said.
- Game summary
Saturday’s loss at Ohio University kept the Zips from going undefeated in league play. And this game was a struggle throughout. Ball State actually beat the Zips at their own game, knocking down nine 3-pointers to just five for the Zips with five of the nine coming down the stretch to keep it close.
“It’s another game that shows we can play with anyone,” Ball State coach James Whitford said as the Cardinals fell to 15-9, 6-5.
Ball State took the lead with 10 seconds to play, 63-62, on a layup inside from Franko House. But Johnson tied the game with 2.3 seconds to play making one of two free throws.
Ball State threw the ensuing inbounds pass out of bounds, giving the ball back to Akron under its own hoop. Johnson got the inbounds pass, and knocked down the jumper for the winner.
Johnson led all scorers with 20 points. Jimond Ivey was the only other Zip in double figures with 10. BSU had three players in double figures with House scoring 18, Ryan Weber 16 and Sean Sellers, 11.
The first half: The Zips got off to a solid start, 19-12 and appeared set to take control. But they went to sleep instead, not to wake up until the Cardinals had taken a 22-19 lead. Freshman guard Tavian Dunn-Martin then hit the first 3-pointer of the game for the Zips, then another late in the half as Akron took a 30-28 lead at the break.
The Zips were dominating inside, 20-10, but were only 3-of-13 behind the arc. The Cardinals only made three as well, but were also 7-of-7 from the line to keep the game close.
By the numbers: While Central Michigan gets all the offensive headlines in the Mid-American Conference, Ball State is not far behind. The Cardinals entered Tuesday’s game second in the MAC in scoring (83.2 points) in conference play, second in free throw percentage (75.8 percent), second in field goal percentage (48.1 percent) and sixth in 3-point shooting (35.5 percent).
The Zips are slowly inching up in the defensive stats, now fourth in scoring defense (75.7 points), but are still at the back of the MAC pack in free throw shooting (64.6 percent) and 11th in 3-point defense (40.2 percent).
Next up: The Zips go on the road Friday to play Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. This is the second crossover as Akron defeated EMU, 70-63, in the meeting at Rhodes Arena. Akron swept its other crossover matchup with Western Michigan, defeating the Broncos, 66-59, at Akron and 90-80 at WMU. Ball State plays its last game against an East Division team Saturday at home against Ohio University.
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