Feb. 14, 2010
Final Stats
AKRON, Ohio-Akron got double-doubles from Chris McKnight and Jimmy Conyers and took advantage of a 36-point advantage off the bench to hold off a game Ohio squad 91-88 in double overtime Sunday afternoon in Rhodes Arena. Akron improved to 19-7 overall and 9-3 in the Mid-American Conference, while Ohio dropped to 14-12 with a 5-7 league mark.
McKnight registered 25 points and 18 rebounds, while Conyers posted 20 and 11. The duo combined to go 14-for-25 from the field. Brett McKnight added 14, while Anthony Hitchens added 10. Steve McNees led the team with four assists.
Ohio's D.J. Cooper exploded for a career-high 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, while making 11 of his 20 field goal attempts. Keely set a Rhodes Arena record with 20 rebounds (a career-high) to go with his 16 points (also a career-high) and Armon Bassett added 16 points himself with four assists and a game-high four steals. Asown Sayles added a career-high 10 rebounds in 33 minutes off the bench.
Akron took an early lead in the contest and got up by as much as seven (19-12) when Nikola Cvetinovic laid in an assist from Hitchens nine minutes, 39 seconds into the game. Ohio responded with a 12-3 run in just under six minutes when Cooper made the second of two free throws at the 4:27 mark to put the Bobcats up by two (24-22). The Zips took a five-point lead into the half at 34-29.
The Bobcats gradually nibbled away at the hosts' lead and took a 44-43 lead on a Cooper layup at the 13:26 mark of the second half. The game was close the rest of the way until Cooper's basket with 38 seconds left tied the game at 67 with just 38 seconds left. The Zips got a pair of offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession, but Cooper rebounded Brett McKnight's game-winning shot attempt to send the game to overtime.
Akron leaped out to a quick six-point lead (75-69) barely two minutes into the first overtime and held an 80-77 advantage with 20 seconds left following a pair of Conyers free throws. However, Bassett found Tommy Freeman behind the arc and the Muncie, Ind. native buried the shot with 10 seconds left to tie the game. Keely then rebounded an ensuing 3-point attempt by McNees and the game was off to a second extra period.
The Zips jumped out quickly again in the second OT and went up by five (87-82) on a three-point play by Brett McKnight with 3:38 left. However, Cooper came right back for the Bobcats and scored four straight points to bring Ohio within a single point with 2:08 remaining. Brett McKnight and Cooper traded a pair of points on the next two possessions and Ohio had a chance to win following a missed 3-pointer by Conyers. The Bobcats could not get off a shot, though, as they were called for travelling with just six seconds left. Conyers made two more charity tosses to give Akron a 91-88 lead and Ohio's attempts to get off a last-gasp long-range attempt off a missed free throw was unsuccessful, allowing the Zips to emerge victorious.
Akron held a 48-12 edge in bench points, due almost entirely to the contributions of the McKnight brothers. Neither team shot well from the free throw line as Akron made 63.9 percent (23-36), while Ohio missed 17 shots there (19-36, 52.8 percent). The Bobcats did outrebound the Zips 55-49.
The Bobcats will back in action Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Kent State.
