CLEVELAND, Ohio – The No. 3 Ohio men's basketball team (20-13) returned to action Friday night (March 15), falling to No. 2 Akron (23-10), 65-62, in the Mid-American Conference Semifinals inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
 
Overall, Ohio shot 36.1 percent from the field, 21.7 percent from three and were 13-of-15 from the line, while Akron shot 39.3 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from three and were 13-of-19 from the line. Akron out-rebounded Ohio 40-34, while Ohio dished out nine assists and forced 15 Akron turnovers. 
 
Individually, senior guard Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.) led the Bobcats with 17 points and five rebounds, while fifth year guard Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) scored 16 points, five rebounds and two steals. Graduate student Shereef Mitchell (Omaha, Neb.) added 14 points four rebounds and four assists, while sophomore forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) led Ohio with seven rebounds, while senior center Gabe Wiznitzer (Walhalla, S.C.) had six boards. 
 
Ohio won the tip and got on the board first with a driving layup from Brown. However, Akron went on an 8-0 run to take an 8-2 lead with 15:53 left in the first half. After Akron missed a free throw, a layup from Hadaway and free throws from Hunter helped cut the Akron lead to 8-6 entering the second media timeout. After a layup from Akron put them up four, a three from Brown cut the Zips lead to one, forcing Akron to call a timeout with 9:16 to go in the half. 
 
Moments later, a layup from Hadaway put the Bobcats up one before a jumper from Mitchell gave Ohio the 13-10 lead. After Akron tied the game up at 16-16, a three from junior forward AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) put the Bobcats ahead by three entering the final media timeout of the half. Out of the timeout, Ohio continued their run, with layups from Brown, Wiznitzer and a three from Hunter to put Ohio up 26-16 going into the half. Overall, the Bobcats closed the first half off with a 10-0 run over the remaining four and a half minutes, keeping Akron off the board for over five minutes. 
 
At the half, Ohio shot 34.5 percent from the field, 30 percent from three and were 3-of-4 from the line, while Akron shot 23.1 percent from the field, went 1-of-8 from three and were 3-of-6 from the line. Akron out-rebounded Ohio, 20-19, while Ohio forced 13 Akron turnovers. 
 
Individually, Brown led the way with 10 points, followed by Hunter with five and Hadaway with four points and five rebounds. 
 
Akron got the first points of the second half, before a three from Hunter put the Bobcats back up nine. The two teams traded baskets over the next few minutes, before Akron cut the Ohio lead to 31-25 entering the first media timeout. After Mitchell got the Bobcats points back with a three-point play, Akron hits a three, however, moments later the Zips are assessed a technical and the Bobcats respond with two free throws from Clayton to put Ohio 36-28. 
 
After Akron cut the Ohio lead to three, a layup from Wiznitzer stopped the Akron run, unfortunately, the Zips matched it with another three to cut the lead to two. The two teams continued to trade baskets, with a dunk from Akron cutting the lead to 40-38, forcing Ohio to call a timeout with 9:54 left in the game. 
 
Free throws from Akron gave the Zips their first lead since the second half, however free throws from Mitchell put Ohio back up one with eight minutes to go. After free throws from Brown and a layup from Mitchell gave Ohio a five-point lead, an 11-0 run from Akron put the Zips up 54-48 with 4:32 to go in the game. A dunk from Clayton stopped the run, but Akron matched it with a three to increase their lead to seven with under three and a half minutes to play.  
 
For Akron, Enrique Freeman led the Zips with 24 points and 21 rebounds. 
 
After a three from Hunter was able to cut the Ohio deficit to three, free throws from Akron increased their lead to five. Despite a layup from Brown to cut the Ohio deficit to two with 14.9 seconds to go, Akron was able to hit their free throws to secure the 65-62 victory. 
 
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