by Akron, OH; The Akron Zips bounced back from a 115-100 loss to Murray State in the perfect way with a 93-72 win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Not only was it the opening of MAC play, but it was also the first home game in sixteen days for the Zips. “I thought tonight was the most complete game we played defensively,” head coach John Groce said about holding the Eagles to just 72 points.
Tavari Johnson led the way for Akron with 25 points, one rebound, five assists, and four steals. Amani Lyles followed up with his first double-double on the season racking up 16 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. While Evan Mahaffey finished with a double-double as well going for 14 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists.
“Our emphasis in practice this week was defense and consistently playing harder,” Mahaffey said following the win. “It speaks to the type of team we have that we don’t have to rely on the three and can get to the basket,” Mahaffey continued about the Zips shooting just 3-18 from three tonight. “I’m not real worried about the three’s. Usually we make three or four more of those looks,” Groce said as well about the three point shooting.
It was a massive night for Lyles who finally got that double-double to go through for himself. “The coaches have been on me to offensive rebound more so I took pride in that area. I just went harder today, and the result happened,” Lyles said about his performance. “Rebounding is the only thing I felt like Lyles hasn’t done at a high level,” Groce added on about the double-double.
Looking for a change, Groce went with a different starting lineup opting for Sharron Young and Zach Halligan. It was an abnormal lineup which usually features Shammah Scott and Eric Mahaffey. But Halligan earned his way to his first career start. “I’ve got no problem putting him in the game and he just keeps on getting better and better,” Groce said postgame about the walk-on. “He’s smart, he knows what he’s doing, he knows our system now in his third year.”
The game itself started off with a 16-7 Zips run proving the fresh starting lineup to be very productive so far. It was Evan Mahaffey getting hot with a quick seven points going 3-3 from the field. The Eagles were able to get back in the game rather quickly though as they went on a 15-10 scoring run. By time the under-8 media timeout rolled around, it was just a 26-22 Akron lead due to four early turnovers.
But the Zips came roaring out of the timeout on a 14-7 scoring run themselves as Groce had enough, opening it back up to a 40-29 lead with 3:13 left in the first half. The momentum would continue as Akron walked into halftime with a 48-34 lead. The offense was red hot shooting 56% from the field despite shooting just 17% from three point range. The big key was the defense as they were holding Eastern Michigan to just 36% from the field including 9% from deep.
Much would be the same in the second half as Akron came out and took a commanding 56-36 lead with still 17:21 left in the game forcing an Eagles timeout. The better team simply kept their foot on the gas both offensively and defensively.
The Zips were able to get their lead all the way up to 29 when they led 87-58 with 3:57 left in the second half. With such a big lead, the starters were essentially done for the night and the Eagles closed the gap to finish off the game. But Akron walks away with a 93-72 victory nonetheless improving to 9-3 on the season.
