The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Penguins hot early but cool late
Going into the 2018-19 season, Akron coach John Groce felt he had the makings of a team that could be a force in the Mid-American Conference.
He’s more convinced of that after the Zips blew by Youngstown State, 98-69, in the opener of the Coaches vs. Cancer doubleheader Nov. 10 at Cleveland State’s Wolstein Center.
“I think we can be really, really good, but we have to
earn that,” Groce said after the Zips improved to 2-0.
Junior guard Daniel Utomi scored a game-high 25 points for the Zips, who outscored YSU in the second half, 52-25.
“We made a lot of mistakes in the first half and they hit 3-pointers off those mistakes. Then in the second half, we locked in,” Utomi said.
Akron senior guard Jimond Ivey, a Glenville High School product, added 18 points. The Zips also got double-figure scoring from sophomore guard Loren Christian Jackson (16), junior forward Deng Riak (14) and junior guard Tyler Cheese (13)
The Zips shot 56.3 percent from the field.
Youngstown had the hot hand early, using a flurry of 3-pointers to maintain leads of up to eight points through the opening 15 minutes.
When the 3-pointers stopped falling for YSU, Akron got back into the thick of things. The Zips forged a 31-31 tie with 4:54 remaining in the first half.
Christian Jackson drained a 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining in the first half to give the Zips the lead for good at 44-42.
Leading at halftime, 4644, the Zips asserted themselves emphatically in the second half.
Sophomore forward Olamide Petersen had teamhigh totals of 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Penguins (0-1). Sophomore forward Naz Bohannon (Lorain) added eight points and five rebounds.