Niagara lets a victory slip away
Turnovers lead to loss to Akron
LEWISTON — Twice it had a chance to win or tie the game in the final 21 seconds.
Twice it turned the ball over. The Niagara men’s basketball team never was able to secure its nine-point second-half lead and dropped a 63-59 decision to Akron in front of 1,776 at the Gallagher Center on Wednesday night.
“We have nobody to blame but ourselves,” Niagara coach Joe Mihalich said. “We were up by nine points with five and a half minutes to go. . . . When we needed to be tough defensively we weren’t. We got beat off the bounce, we lost guys for shots. It was just the type of game we thought it would be. They’re a very physical team and they make you work for everything you get.”
Leading by one, 60-59, Akron got the ball on a turnover with 45.7 seconds left. Aggressive defensive pressure by Niagara trapped Anthony Hitchens on the far sideline near half court and forced a five-second violation.
That gave Niagara the ball back with 20.9 seconds to play and a chance to win, but a miscommunication between Anthony Nelson and Bilal Benn resulted in a turnover and ensuing foul.
Hitchens hit the front end of a one-and-one to make it 61-59 with 12.8 seconds to play. He missed the second, and Niagara got the rebound and called a timeout with 4.5 seconds left to set up a halfcourt play.
But the pass into the post was tipped from behind. Akron, in characteristic fashion for the defensive-minded team, got hands all over the ball and came up with the steal.
Darryl Roberts hit two free throws to seal the win and put the final touches on Niagara’s collapse in the final five minutes.
“In those five minutes, it’s time for me to take over, to lead the team,” junior guard Tyrone Lewis said. “It’s a team loss but I am the [veteran] and personally, I feel like I didn’t do what I’m supposed to do. I didn’t take control like I should have.”
Niagara had taken its largest lead — 57-48 — when Lewis hit a three-pointer with 5:30 to play.
But Akron responded with back-to-back three-pointers, then tied the game, 59-59, with 2:12 to play on a three-pointer by Roberts.
The Purple Eagles had difficulty getting shots off in those final five minutes and scored just two points — a jumper by Bilal.
Offensive output is usually not an issue for the Purple Eagles (5-2). That was until they ran into the Zips.
The last time the Purple Eagles were held to fewer than 60 points was a 71-53 loss to Delaware on Dec. 28, 2006 in Philadelphia.
Akron (5-2) entered the game with one of the best turnover margins in the country, forcing 22 and committing only 12 a game.
“We did a good job defensively which saved us and we never let them get totally in the flow of the game,” Akron coach Keith Dambrot said. “We had some shooting woes and didn’t rebound well and it darn near cost us the game.”
The Zips jumped out to a 17-7 lead early in the game, capitalizing on defensive stops and outplaying Niagara on the perimeter.
But Demetrius Williamson entered the game and ripped off nine straight points to bring the Purple Eagles back. The 9-0 run cut Akron’s lead to 17-16 midway through the half and the Zips took a slim lead, 33-31, into halftime.
“They are one of the best teams in spurtability that you’ll play,” Dambrot said of Niagara. “They hit us with two — one in the first half and one to take the lead in the second half. But we rallied ourselves and the best thing we did was those turnovers we committed didn’t turn into baskets.”
While Akron committed 15 turnovers, the Purple Eagles turned that into just six points. Conversely, the Zips turned 18 Niagara turnovers into 18 points.
Lewis finished with a game-high 21 points and six steals while Williamson had 17 points.
Hitchens, Akron’s freshman point guard, led the Zips with a career-high 15 points while Nate Linhart added 14.
Niagara plays on the road for the rest of 2008, traveling to Loyola to open the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference season at noon Sunday.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments