by Cleveland, OH; It was the MAC Championship at Rocket Arena for a spot on the line to the March Madness tournament. It was a great match-up that features the first seeded Akron Zips and the second seeded MIami RedHawks.
The Zips came into the game at 27-6, following wins over Bowling Green and Toledo in the MAC tournament. Miami came in at 25-8 following wins over Eastern Michigan and Kent State to earn a spot in the MAC Championship.
Akron would be the ones continuing their momentum even farther. It was all thanks to rallying back from a 18-point deficit, and a great shot by the MAC player of the year for the win.
“What stood out most to me throughout the game, was our ability to stay poised.” Head coach John Groce said after the win.
Miami was led by junior guard Peter Suder who tallied up 24 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists including going 6-for-9 from three. Redshirt-sophomore guard Kam Scott followed up with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist.
While Akron was led by the MAC player of the year, senior Redshirt-junior guard Nate Johnson. He finished with 22 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 assists, including the game-winning shot.
After a very close start through the first media timeout in which Miami led 8-6, the game became much more in the RedHawks favor.
They proceeded to go on a 12-7 run which was led by sophomore guard Evan Ipsaro with 5 of his 12 points on that run alone. It helped give Miami a 20-13 lead.
Well, the RedHawks lead quickly grew even more thanks to a 9-2 run that feautured all three pointers. Including back-to-back ones by Suder who had himself a night. Miami took a commanding 29-15 lead, and it is safe to say that the Akron Zips fans were shocked at this point.
Suder would even keep it going after the called timeout by Akron, giving himself back-to-back-to-back three’s! He was lights out to start the game going 6-for-7, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.
“I thought that Miami’s shotmaking was elite in the first half.” Groce said, pointing out the RedHawks start in which they went 55% from the field, and a whopping 56% from three.
By time the under-8 media timeout rolled around, the Zips were looking at a tall hill to climb back in this game as they trailed 16-34.
Miami’s largest lead of the first half would be 18, in which they led 36-18.
But it was the Zips turn to get back in it since that moment. It was all thanks to a 12-5 run in which they went 5-for-7 from the floor while holding Miami to 2-for-6 on the run. If Akron wanted to continue to get back in the game, they knew they would have to continue on runs similar to this one that got them down just 30-41.
Taking into consideration that Akron once trailed by 18 in the first half, it seemed pretty fortunate that they found themselves only down by 12 come halftime. Miami had a 46-34 lead at the break.
The second half started off fairly even with Akron having an 18-15 advantage to start. The Zips were able to get their deficit as less as eight in which they trailed 53-61 with 11:57 left to play in the game.
In fact, Akron would keep it going by getting it down to as less as five. But it seemed like every-time the Zips made it close, the Miami would pull away again to make it a 9-11 point lead.
By time the under-8 media timeout rolled around of the second half, the RedHawks were still maintaining their lead at 70-64.
The mainly Akron crowd finally came alive down the stretch following a 6-2 run by the Zips to cut their deficit down to just two at 70-72. With just 4:30 remaining, we were set up for a great finish at Rocket Arena between the top two seeds in the MAC.
Both teams’ defense down the stretch was amazing, as they each knew what was on the line here. With just 35.6 seconds remaining, this game was all tied up at 74 a piece.
With just 2 seconds to go, it would be the MAC’s player of the year getting the game-winning layup to secure the win for Akron!
“It was a Luka Doncic move we were working on in the summer. When you slow down and go off of one foot.” Nate Johnson said on his game-winning shot.
The Zips would win by a final score of 76-74, making them back-to-back MAC Champions, and of course, the automatic bid that sends them to March Madness.
