MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

AKRON, OH ­ The University of Akron used a torrid shooting second half on Saturday to down the University at Buffalo, 89-81, in a Mid-American Conference men's basketball game at James A. Rhodes Arena.

The Zips (8-13, 4-6) won their fourth straight in the MAC by shooting 58% in the second half and forcing 17 Buffalo turnovers. The Bulls ­ who fell to 10-11 overall and 5-5 in the MAC ­ lost a one-point halftime lead early in the second half and just could not stop the Zips red-hot shooting after intermission.

"We just could not get any stops," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "Give Akron credit because they played very well, but we win based on our defensive effort and the way we played today isn't going to be good enough to beat anyone."

The game featured a back-and-forth first half that saw seven ties. The Bulls led by as many as five points, 23-18, on a three-point field goal by Davis Lawrence (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) with 7:54 remaining in the first half. However, the Zips would respond a take a one point lead, 34-33, with 2:37 remaining. Buffalo would lose senior guard Gabe Cagwin (Seattle, WA/Belfair) to a lower right leg injury after a steal and attempted layup with 1:48 remaining in the first half. Cagwin had already scored on a layup just before that and Witherspoon thought the injury hurt his team.

"Gabe came in the game and gave us great energy," said Witherspoon. "In the second half we really had a hard time guarding Rashon Brown and he certainly could have helped us there."

Brown led the Zips with 28 points, including 17 in the second half, while Andy Hipsher added 21 points and nine rebounds for Akron.

Robert Brown

The Bulls got a big game from senior Robert Brown (Oak Park, MI/Oak Park). Brown had 25 points and eight rebounds while senior Darcel Williams (Buffalo, NY/Traditional) added 21 points and seven rebounds. Louis Campbell (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) added 15 points, four assists and four rebounds for Buffalo.

Buffalo held its last lead of the game at 42-39 with 17:04 remaining on a layup by Brown, but the Zips would go on a 7-0 run ­ on two buckets by Brown and a three-pointer by David Falknor ­ to take a 46-42 lead with 14:45 left and would not trail again. The Bulls had the lead down to 77-72 with 2:59 remaining on a pair of free throws by freshman Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth), but Brown again hit back-to-back layups for Akron to put the game away.

Buffalo lost despite shooting 50% from the field and 86% from the foul line while outrebounding the Zips, 29-24. The Bulls and Zips split the season series with Akron avenging a 79-60 loss at Alumni Arena back on Dec. 8. The Bulls will host MAC rivals Miami (OH) and Western Michigan at Alumni Arena on Wednesday and Saturday this week.