by It was a packed house at the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio for the 166th edition of the “Wagon Wheel” rivalry between the Kent State Golden Flashes and Akron Zips.
The game started with a 6-0 run by the Zips as it would take 2:30 for the Flashes to get on the board. By the first media timeout, the Flashes trailed 5-9 after a three from Anthony Morales.
But coming out of the timeout, it would be all Zips as they would proceed to go on a 11-2 run and take a commanding 20-7 lead on the road.
Everything was working for Akron as they shot 4-for-7 from three and shooting 50% from the field, while holding Kent State to 23% shooting, including 20% from three.
The game was very physical as you would expect in a rivalry like this. By the under-8 media timeout in the first half, Kent State had 6 fouls while Akron tallied up 5 themselves.
Things were still going Akron’s way for the most part as they let 29-14 at this point.
Kent State finally got a run going, as they would outscore Akron 13-7 over the next 4 minutes to help cut the deficit down trailing just 27-36.
The Flashes got a jump from Senior Anthony Morales who led the way with 10 points for Kent State at this point.
By time halftime rolled around, the Akron Zips were able to open up their lead all the way to 48-31.
They shot a whopping 50% in the first half including 6-for-16 from three. The Zips were led by Junior Nate Johnson with 13 points and Freshman Sharron Young who tallied 10 points at the half.
With a depleted Kent State crowd, it was starting to look harder and harder for the Golden Flashes to pull off a second half comeback.
In fact, Akron started off the second half with a 10-4 run taking a 58-35 lead and taking the crowd out of it even more. The Kent State crowd that is.
As the limited Akron crown on the road really went going after a three by Isaiah Gray and showed his energy afterwards.
A quick 8-2 by Kent State all of a sudden put them back down by just 18 with 13:26 left to play.
The Flashes were able to get the lead all the way down to 14, but were not able to get let any closer.
The Zips were able to maintain their pace as they held onto a 72-58 lead by time the under-8 media timeout came in the second half.
There is not much else to say about the final 7+ minutes of play as Akron absolutely dominated the rest of the way and literally ran Kent out of their own building.
Akron would finish with a whopping six players scoring in double digits. The Zips were led by Nate Johnson’s 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists performance.
You also can’t forget about senior James Okonkwo who had a double-double of his own featuring 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Kent State struggled quite a bit, having just two players of their own score in double digits. The flashes were led by senior Jalen Sullinger tallying up 23 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.
It would be quite the performance for the Akron Zips who took down Kent State 85-71, and extend their all-time series lead to 84-82 over the Golden Flashes.
