Akron Zips extend season's longest win streak in NCAA Division I men's basketball

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Akron Zips extend season's longest win streak in NCAA Division I men's basketball

Michael Beaven, Akron Beacon Journal · Akron Beacon Journal

Mon, Feb 17, 2025 ·

7 min read

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The University of Akron enters this week with the season's longest win streak in NCAA Division I men's basketball .

Akron defeated Central Michigan 85-82 Saturday night in Mount Pleasant to run its win streak to 13 games in a row, including 12 in the Mid-American Conference.

Akron (20-5, 12-0) is set to host Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The game is also being dubbed Enrique Freeman Night as Akron will honor Freeman's No. 25 jersey before the game.

Central Michigan (11-14, 4-8) made it interesting against Akron , but the Zips prevailed with Nate Johnson totaling 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Amani Lyles finished with 14 points and two blocks.

"I told them after the game that it was great for our team growth to be in a close game like that and to have to play situations late that we work on in practice," Akron coach John Groce said to Zips radio broadcasters David Skoczen and Joe Dunn on Saturday night.

"We didn't execute some of them great. Some of them we did. What an unbelievable opportunity to learn and to grow and improve. ... Give them credit, they [CMU] decided to sell out and take away the 3. I thought it took us a half to adjust to that. Obviously, we scored [48] points in the paint, cutting, running and getting rim runs. We did a lot of damage in the paint."

Akron's Marvin Musiime-Kamali reacts after Nate Johnson muscled in a second-half shot against Western Michigan on Feb. 11, 2025, in Akron, Ohio. — Akron’s Marvin Musiime-Kamali reacts after Nate Johnson muscled in a second-half shot against Western Michigan on Feb. 11, 2025, in Akron, Ohio.

Akron's Shammah Scott scored 13 points, and Isaiah Gray contributed 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.

James Okonkwo scored 10 points, Tavari Johnson had four points, six assists and two steals and Seth Wilson added five points for the Zips, who rallied from a 36-33 halftime deficit.

"We really challenged them at halftime, like, 'Guys, we gotta play Akron basketball here. All gas no breaks. Let's run,'" Groce said. "... I thought our guys were much better playing faster in the second half."

Akron's Nate Johnson throws down a thunderous second-half dunk over Central Michigan's Ugnius Jarusevicius on Jan. 7, 2025, in Akron, Ohio.

CMU's Ugnius Jarusevicius matched his career-high with 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Jarusevicius also scored 32 points on Feb. 11 in a 91-83 loss to Kent State. Anthony Pritchard added 15 points, six assists and two steals. Jakobi Heady finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and Kyler VanderJagt scored 12 points.

"He is a load," Groce said of Jarusevicius. "He had made four 3s all year in MAC play out of 30 attempts. He goes 3 for 3 in the first half, so it made us change our coverage, which made him a little more challenging to guard."

Akron women's golf opens season in Orlando

Akron's women's golf team opened the 2025 spring schedule with a 3-3 tie in match play against Murray State and a 6-0 win over Western Illinois at the Rust Buster Match Play event hosted by Ball State and Murray State in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 10.

Zips juniors Hridhika Vora and Emily Liptak and freshman Sohniya Chandra Mohan won in the opening match at Kings Ridge Golf Course. Vora, Liptak, Chandra Mohan, junior Maisarah Hezri, senior Daphne van Son and junior Avery Wright were victorious in the sweep of Western Illinois.

The Zips lost 3.5-2.5 to Drake in the final match of the Rust Buster Match Play event on Tuesday. Vora and Hezri won.

Akron women's lacrosse beats Saint Francis and Xavier

The Akron women's lacrosse team went 2-0 at home with an 11-4 win over Saint Francis on Feb. 11 at InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field and a 15-6 victory over Xavier on Feb. 15 at Stile Athletics Field House.

Zips junior Kellen Fletcher and sophomore Sienna Hinchcliffe scored three goals apiece in the win over Saint Francis. Juniors Katie Baumer and Heather Carey both had two goals and two assists. Sophomore Kaitlyn Sikorski added a goal and an assist, senior Kylie Harris had two assists and senior Hannah Sanders made 10 saves.

Hinchcliffe totaled five goals and three assists in the win over Xavier. Baumer added three goals and an assist. Fletcher, redshirt senior Noelle Boyd, and senior Jaelyn Clinkscales netted two goals apiece. Junior Heather Carey added a goal and an assist.

Boyd's fourth-quarter goal gave her 100 in her Akron career.

Akron baseball wins series against Radford to open season

The Akron baseball team (2-1) split a doubleheader with host Radford on Feb. 14, winning the opener 12-11 in 10 innings and losing the second game 10-9 in 11 innings.

Zips senior Jack Poist hit a grand slam, walked three times and scored three runs in the win. Sophomore Charlie Schebler had three hits and two RBIs. Senior Andrew Horvath and redshirt freshman Blake Bowen had two hits apiece.

Bowen had two RBIs and scored two runs. Sophomores Nicky Sackett and Evan Bottone each scored two runs. Senior reliever Sean Perkins got the win and senior Johnny Anservitz threw a shutout inning with two strikeouts to earn the save.

Bottone and Poist each had two hits and an RBI in the second game. Bowen added a hit and two RBIs. Sophomore Jett Slepak took the loss.

Akron won 17-4 Sunday over Radford. Senior Caden Matlon went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, a walk, five RBIs and three runs. Senior Max Bowman went 3-for-4 with two walks, three runs and two RBIs. Senior Ian Pennington hit a home run, walked twice and had two RBIs. Schebler added four RBIs and two runs, Bowen had two RBIs and two runs, Bottone and Poist each had two hits, two runs and one RBI and freshman Landon Vandegrift earned the win.

Akron forward Amani Lyles dunks between Kent State center Cli'Ron Hornbeak (42) and guard Jamal Sumlin (4) during the first half, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Kent.

Akron softball splits two doubleheaders in Whataburger Invitational

Akron's softball team (7-3) split two doubleheaders Friday and Saturday in the Whataburger Invitational in Stephenville, Texas, and added a victory Sunday.

Akron lost 2-1 to Houston Christian and won 2-1 over South Dakota State on Feb. 14.

Freshman Maddelynn Lee took the loss in Friday's first game and Brooke Sivek had three hits and scored a run.

Sophomore Macy Walters got the win in the circle in Friday's second game. Sophomore Sophia Wygast and freshman Sydney Selker each had two hits, and Sivek and sophomore Hailee Sanchez scored the runs. Sophomore Delaney Jenkinson added an RBI.

Akron lost 8-3 to Austin Peay and won 7-3 win over Tarleton State Texans on Feb. 15.

Junior Abigail Scheller had a hit, two walks and three RBIs against Austin Peay, sophomore Lily Sullivan and Selker each had two hits, and sophomore Madie Jamrog took the loss.

Wygast totaled three hits and two RBIs in the win over Tarleton States. Senior Alexis Campbell, junior Meagan Lee and Sullivan followed with two hits each. Sullivan added two RBIs. Sivek, Lee and Sullivan each scored two runs. Walters secured the win in the circle.

Akron beat Tarleton State 9-8 on Sunday with Selker totaling a double, a home run, three RBIs and two runs and sophomore Katie Cantrell contributing two doubles and an RBI. Lee hit a triple, walked twice and had three RBIs. Campbell finished with two hits and two runs, and Sullivan added two hits. Jamrog got the win in relief.

Akron track and field athletes win events

Akron track and field athletes competed over the weekend in the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University, the Doug Raymond Invitational at Kent State and the Windy City Invite hosted by Wisconsin.

Here are Akron's first-place athletes on Friday:

Senior Joy Nwokike, ran a school-record time of 53.29 in women's 400 meters at the Windy City Invite
Sophomore Jordan Thompson-Seay, cleared 6 feet, 6¾ inches in the men's high jump at the Doug Raymond Invitational

Here are Akron's first-place athletes on Saturday:

Sophomore Titus Kirui, ran a 8:34.35 in the men's 3,000 meters at the Doug Raymond Invitational
Redshirt junior Owen Wendl, put the shot 56-9½ at the Doug Raymond Invitational

Akron women's basketball falls at Toledo

Akron's women's basketball team (9-16, 3-9) lost 75-54 Saturday to host Toledo (18-5, 9-3) after the score was tied 27-27 at halftime.

Akron freshman Ni'Rah Clark scored a career-high 16 points, senior Zakia Rasheed added 11 points and senior Alexus Mobley finished with 10 points. Toledo's Khera Goss and Sammi Mikonowicz scored 16 points apiece, Nan Garcia added 13 points and Kendall Carruthers had 10 points.

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron men's basketball score; Zips win at Central Michigan

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