Akron Squeaks Past Bowling Green 89-84

The Akron Men’s basketball team won a close game Tuesday night against the Bowling Green Falcons 89-84 to win their first game of MAC conference play. The team is now 11-3 on the season. The Zips were led by Jimond Ivey who scored a career high 23 points, and was 6 of 7 from the court. He also finished with six rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Akron struggled to score at the beginning of the game and allowed Bowling Green to score the first eight points, but they finally started to gain momentum going on a 23-0 run three minutes into the start of the game. The team shot well from the 3 point line in the second half making 15-22 (68%) shots. Seniors Kwan Cheatham and Isaiah Johnson were huge down the stretch for the team. Cheatham scored 18 points and pitched in seven rebounds. Johnson was impressive on the offensive end finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Sophomore guard Josh Williams also shot well from 3 point range scoring a total of 18 points and making three 3 pointers.

In the final minutes of the game Bowling Green was able to knock down a 3 pointer to make it a three point game but Jimond Ivey was able to close the game with free throws. Tuesday night’s game gave Coach Dambrot his 289th victory, which is the all time winning record for Akron.

Akron’s next game is Friday night at home at 6:30 pm against the Western Michigan Broncos. The Zips will look to get their 12th win of the season.

Below is Bowling Green Head Coach Michael Huger on his thoughts of his players performance, Jimond Ivey on how he thought he played, and Akron Head Coach Keith Dambrot on his thoughts on how his team played as a unit.