AKRON, Ohio ? In its Mid-American Conference opener, the Ohio men?s basketball team lost a 71-59 decision to Akron at Rhodes Arena on Sunday evening. Sophomore forward Sonny Troutman (Indianapolis) led the Bobcats with 12 points while freshman forward Leon Williams (Baltimore) scored 11 and junior forward Jeff Halbert (White Bear Lake, Minn.) added nine off the bench.

Following a 30-30 tie at halftime, the Zips (7-3, 1-1 MAC) outscored Ohio 19-4 to begin the second half. The first field goal of the second half for the Bobcats came with 10:08 to play when a Williams layup made it 49-36.

Ohio (5-4, 0-1 MAC) cut the lead to nine four different times down the stretch and had it as close as eight at 67-59 with 48 seconds remaining but could not get any closer.

?We missed a lot of shots but part of it was that we didn?t have good ball movement and we didn?t have guys cutting (to the basket),? said Bobcat head coach Tim O?Shea about the team?s season-low shooting percentage. ?I thought it was our poorest performance of the season in the second half. We?re going to have to do something between now and Wednesday night when we play at Ball State to rectify that situation.?

For the game, Ohio shot 38 percent (20-of-53) from the field, 35 percent (6-of-17) from three-point range and 72 percent (13-of-18) from the free-throw line. Akron, meanwhile, made 41 percent (23-of-56) from the field, 38 percent (9-of-24) from behind the arc and 70 percent (16-of-23) from the charity stripe.

The Zips won the rebounding battle 41-27 and scored 17 points off 15 Bobcat turnovers. In contrast, Ohio scored eight points off 13 Akron miscues.

Junior guard Mychal Green (Columbus) and senior forward Terren Harbut (Lexington, Ky.) each scored eight points for the Bobcats while freshman point guard Jeremy Fears recorded six, sophomore guard Whitney Davis (Ann Arbor, Mich.) contributed four and senior center Clay McGowen (Westerville) chipped in one.

The Zips were led by four players in double figures, including Darryl Peterson and Rick McFadden with 15 points apiece, Dru Joyce with 14 and Bubba Walther with 10.

?We?re a better team than that and I?m sure we can make some adjustments and come out with a much better effort against Ball State on Wednesday,? said O?Shea. ?At some point we?re going to have that breakthrough and hopefully it?s sooner and not later. It?s a little bit about maturity; we?ve got a young team but they?ve got to grow up quick if we?re going to be successful in the MAC this year because effort like tonight certainly doesn?t get it done.?

Ohio stays on the road with a 7 p.m. game at Ball State on Wednesday before returning to Athens for a 1 p.m. showdown against Marshall on Sunday, Jan. 9.

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