Akron Defeats Buffalo for 2009 MAC Championship

Calvin Betts finishes with 12 points and seven rebounds in 65-53 loss

Calvin Betts

CLEVELAND, OH – The Akron Zips used a 55 percent shooting performance from the field, including eight three pointers to defeat Buffalo, 65-53, on Saturday night for the 2009 Mid-American Conference Championship.

Picked to finish last in the preseason poll, the Bulls proved the prognosticators wrong by earning a share of the regular season MAC title and blazing a trail to the MAC Championship game. However, it was a night that belonged to the Zips. Buffalo played its patented defense to force the Zips to settle for contested jump shots. But to the Zips credit they knocked those shots down - shooting 8-of-14 from beyond the arc and scoring only 18 of their 65 points in the paint.

“They got hot and made tough shots, and when they got hot we seemed to want to come right back,” head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. “It broke our concentration.”

Akron also played tough defense, forcing the Bulls to shoot 37 percent from the field and only 3-of-16 from three-point range.

Senior leader Greg Gamble scored the Bulls’ first seven points of the game. His free throw at the 16:03 mark gave the Bulls a 5-3 lead. But it would be their last of the game. Anthony Hitchens hit a three-pointer on the Zips’ next possession to give Akron the lead for good. Akron built an eight point lead at the half.

The Zips outscored UB, 14-4, at the start of the second half to build their lead to 43-27 with 13:09 left in the game. However, like they did all season, the Bulls refused to give up and battled hard to get back in the game.

Byron Mulkey made his MAC Tournament debut in the second half and immediately gave the Bulls a spark off the bench. After finding Titus Robinson down low for a layup, he caused an Akron turnover and drained a three-pointer to pull the Bulls to within 13.

UB was down 11 when Max Boudreau hit a sweeping layup to pull the Bulls to within nine with 3:03 left in the second half. It was short lived though as Akron’s Darryl Roberts hit a long three with 2:52 left to thwart the Buffalo threat.

Calvin Betts finished the game with 12 points and seven rebounds - both team highs. Gamble had 11 points and four rebounds.

Max Boudreau

Boudreau, who had a career-high 21 points in the Bulls' semifinal win over Ball State, was named to the All-Tournament team. He finished with eight points and five rebounds on the night. It was a coming out party for the junior forward who averaged 14 points per game in the tournament.

“This season was a success. We were co-champions and that was the first time we’ve done that,” Witherspoon said. “These guys made a lot of sacrifices to give ourselves the chance to be in this position.”

With a 21-11 record, the Bulls will now wait to see if they will be selected to play in a postseason tournament.