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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (15-12, 9-5 MAC) snapped Akron's (21-6, 13-1 MAC) 14-game win streak-the longest in the nation- with a 84-67 victory Saturday night (Feb. 22) inside the Convocation Center. With the win, the Bobcats clinched a spot in the 2025 MAC Tournament at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
The loss marked the first loss in the MAC for Akron this season, as well as the lowest amount of points scored in a game for the Zips.
Ohio shot 47 percent from the field to Akron's 44 percent. Ohio also shot 27 percent from three-point range compared to Akron's 22 percent, with the Zips making just four 3-pointers, the least it has all season. The Bobcats also went 17-of-23 from the line, while the Zips were 9-of-14 from the charity stripe. Akron out-rebounded the Bobcats 37-35, while the Bobcats dished out 11 assists to the Zips 10. Ohio also forced 14 Akron turnovers and scored 17 points off them, while Ohio only turned the ball over seven times. The Bobcats also recorded nine steals and scored 44 points in the paint.
"The one thing we talked about was they're come out and do something different, play zone, up their pressure, offensive rebound more, transition harder, and we had to weather the storm that they were going to give us," head coach
Jeff Boals said.
Junior guard
Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) led all scorers with 21 points, going 8-of-13 from the field, 5-of-5 from the line, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out two assists. Senior forward
AJ Clayton added 18 points and eight rebounds, while redshirt sophomore guard
AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.) scored 16 points, going 5-of 11 from the field, while grabbing four rebounds. Freshman guard
Elijah Elliott (Orlando, Fla.) added nine points, five rebounds and four assists, while junior guard
Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) scored seven points and had five rebounds a three assists.
Akron won the tip, but the Bobcats got on the board first with a dunk from Clayton, setting the tone for the night right off the bat. A pullup three from Elliott put the Bobcats up 5-0, before Akron got on the board. Akron took a 6-5 lead at the 15 minute mark in the first half, before a layup from graduate student forward
Vic Searls (Hilliard, Ohio) gave the Bobcats the lead with 14:34 to go in the first half. Akron would not take the lead for the remainder of the game.
Moments later, a three and a jumper from James put the Bobcats up six before the Zips got the Ohio lead back down to two. However, a 9-0 run from the Bobcats put Ohio up 23-12 with 7:03 remaining in the half. Ohio kept the foot on the gas, never letting Akron get closer than 12 points the rest of the half, with a jumper from James and a free throws from Paveletzke giving Ohio the 43-29 lead entering the half.
At the half, Ohio shot 48.5 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from three and were 6-of-7 from the line. Meanwhile, Akron shot 37.1 percent from the field, 16.7 percent from three and were 1-of-3 from the line.
"I think our defense came out super strong tonight, and we just set the tone from the beginning," Paveletzke said.
Ohio opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take a 54-31 lead at the 16:42 mark. Akron was able to cut the Ohio lead down to 18 over the course of the next five minutes, but a three-point play from Brown, put the Bobcats up 26 with 11:01 remaining in the game. With under seven minutes to go, a three from Clayton put the Bobcats up 27 - Ohio's largest lead of the game. Akron went on a 10-0 run to cut Ohio's lead to 17 with 3:15 to go. However, Ohio's defense and free throws down the stretch from Clayton and Brown helped secure the 84-67 victory.
"We've got four games left now, so this is a huge one. Every team, every coach has said the MAC is wide open every single game, every single night, for every single team. It was a very competitive game," Clayton said.
The Bobcats will be back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 25 in Kalamazoo, Mich. to face off against Western Michigan. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be available for viewing on ESPN+.
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