by Akron, OH; The Akron Zips were back home at the JAR getting to host the UMass Minutemen in their first ever battle as MAC foes. With UMass coming over from the Atlantic 10, they found out how tough John Groce’s Zips would be as they suffered a 99-92 loss on the road. It was also Isaiah Johnson night as number 23 was raised to the rafters to celebrate the 2016-17 MAC Player of the Year. “Obviously hard fought win, as I thought it would be,” Groce said following the game.
Tavari Johnson led the way with 23 points, four assists, and three rebounds. Amani Lyles followed up with 19 points, three rebounds, and two assists. While Shammah Scott finished with 14 points, three assists, and two rebounds. The reigning MAC Sixth Man of the Year had a huge 11-point second half, especially considering one of the Mahaffey brothers exiting early.
It was a first half full of runs to say the least. After the Minutemen jumped out to a 11-6 lead, Akron stormed right back with a 15-0 run to take a 21-11 lead of their own. They’d open it up to a twelve point lead before UMass stormed all the way back thanks to runs of 15-4, and 8-2. It would put the Zips back down by two at 43-41, but a buzzer beater from Scott would give them a 44-43 lead heading into halftime.
Things would really get chippy to begin the second half as there was a scuffle with 16:27 left in the game. Evan Mahaffey got tossed due to a very questionable flagrant one, Scott picked up a technical foul, and two Minutemen players also received fouls. Thanks to the refs, it would remain very tight as Akron led just 66-63 with 11:43 to play.
Even with shooting 12-for-25 in the second half, the Zips would really build up a lead thanks to going 26-for-29 from the free throw line the final 20 minutes. With 19 personal fouls by UMass, it was no wonder why Akron took advantage of getting to the line so much (38-43 total).
Cutting it down to as less as five in the final minutes, the Minutemen refused to go away. But the Zips would do just enough to close it out with the 99-92 win, as the home winning-streak is now extended to 29 games.
Akron next travels to Western Michigan for a Tuesday night matchup at 7:00 p.m.
