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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (23-6, 14-4 MAC) returned to the Convocation Center for the final time during the 2021-22 season, falling to Akron (19-19, 12-6 MAC), 91-83, in Athens on Senior Night. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 48 percent from the field, 42 percent from three and went 8-of-13 from the line, while Akron shot 63 percent from the field, 27 percent from three and were 27-of-35 from the line. Akron outrebounded Ohio, 33-23, while Ohio dished out 15 assists to Akron's 11. Ohio also forced 11 Akron turnovers. 
 
Individually, sophomore guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals, Ala.) led Ohio with 20 points, going 4-for-7 from three, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out seven assists. Redshirt senior forward Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) scored 17 points and grabbed four rebounds, while redshirt fifth year forward Jason Carter (Johnstown, Ohio) added 17 points and four rebounds. Senior guard Tommy Schmock (Cleveland, Ohio) scored 14 points, while junior guard Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) added 11 points and hit three threes for the Bobcats.
 
"You know, wish we could have sent those guys out with a win in their last home game here," head coach Jeff Boals said. "The first half was disappointing. I thought they were the more intense team and had more effort the first 20 minutes. We made some mental mistakes. And I didn't think we had a presence defensively. The first 20 minutes for them to shoot 64% and we only forced three turnovers. I thought that was a big difference in the game. They hit some tough shots at the shot clock and hit two threes. Ali Ali hit two tough runners going left. And we didn't have the defensive presence. We needed to win the game for 40 minutes."
 
Akron won the tip and got on the board first with a layup. Ohio then took the lead on a layup from junior forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) and a free throw from Carter. After Akron took a 7-3 lead, a three from Carter cut the Akron lead to one. However, Akron responded with a layup to take a 9-6 lead going into the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, Akron took an eight-point lead before a three from Schmock cut the Akron lead to five. However, the Zips then went on a 5-0 run to take a 10-point lead with 11:47 left in the half. 
 
Out of the timeout, Ohio cut the Akron lead to 21-16 after a three from Vander Plas. However, Akron was able to increase its lead to 12 with 7:36 left in the half. Ohio and Akron traded baskets down the stretch, but Akron was able to stretch their lead to 46-26 going into the half. 
 
"I think we've seen it the whole year," Vander Plas said. "It's kind of the trend. If we come out at the start of the game, swinging, playing physical and taking teams out of what they want to do, we're able to jump off to that that quick 10-12 point lead. And we did a pretty good job the entire year holding on to that. The games that we kind of back down to start, the other teams do that to us. Obviously, those games haven't turned out the way that we want. So I think that's probably going to be the biggest focus for us moving forward for the rest of the season."
 
At the half, Ohio shot 37 percent from the field, 29 percent from three and were 2-of-4 from the line, while Akron shot 64 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and were 6-of-7 from the line. Akron outrebounded the Bobcats 16-12 and dished out seven assists to Ohio's six. 
 
Individually, Carter and Vander Plas both had six points, while Sears grabbed five rebounds. 
 
Carter opened the second half for the Bobcats with five points before a layup from Vander Plas helped cut the Ohio deficit to 52-33 going into the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, back-to-back threes from Schmock and Sears cut the Akron lead to 59-43 with 11:51 left in the game. 
 
Out of the timeout, a three from Brown and layups from Vander Plas and Carter cut the Akron lead to 14 with 8:27 left in the game. Out of the timeout, free throws from Sears and another Schmock three, cut the Ohio deficit to 68-55 with 5:21 remaining in the game. However, Akron got four quick points, taking a 72-55 lead going into the final media timeout. 
 
Over the final four minutes, the Ohio offense started chipping away at the Akron lead, cutting the Zips lead to 10 with 37 seconds remaining. After Sears drained two threes to cut the Ohio deficit to seven with 20 seconds to go. However, Akron was able to hit their free throws and although Sears hit the final three of the night, the Bobcats fell, 91-83. 
 
For Akron, Ali Ali scored 22 points, Greg Tribble added 17 points and Enrique Freeman scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. 
 
Up next, the Bobcats hit the road on Tuesday, March 1 when they take on Bowling Green. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Stroh Center. 
 
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