CLEVELAND, Ohio - Sparked by a game-high 26 points from junior Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.), the fourth-seeded University of Akron men's basketball team advanced to the title game of the Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on the strength of a 70-62 wire-to-wire triumph over top-seeded Toledo in the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament on Friday, March 11 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
 
The Zips (23-9) will square off against the winner of the showdown between second-seeded Kent State and third-seeded Ohio on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 12 in the MAC Tournament title game. Akron will be appearing in the championship tilt for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.
 
Castaneda led four Zips scoring in double figures with a game-high 26 points for his 25th double-figure outing of the season, including seven straight. Sophomores Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ind.), Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) and Greg Tribble (Cincinnati, Ohio) contributed 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Akron.
 
Freeman posted his team-leading 17th double-double of the year with a 12-point, 10-rebound effort, while sophomore Mikal Dawson (Huntington, W.Va.) narrowly missed a double-figure scoring night finishing with nine points.
 
Akron culminated the triumph shooting more than 47 percent (.472) from the floor, while connecting at a .348 clip from beyond the arc, including four three pointers in the second half. Toledo capped off its league tournament run hitting 44.4 percent of its attempts on the night.
 
The Zips garnered advantages on the evening in points in the paint (36-24), second-chance points (15-9) and points off of turnovers (12-7).