Wednesday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 109, Penn State Shenango 51
Western Michigan 83, Purdue Fort Wayne 71

Recap courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Akron 109, Penn State Shenango 51
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - Five Zips scored in double figures while all 13 Zips who touched the court scored a point in a 109-51victory over Penn State Shenango at home Wednesday.

The Zips (3-0) had five players score in double figures, led by Shammah Scott, who had 18 points, eight assists and two steals. Bowen Hardman added 13 points off the bench and Evan Mahaffey chipped in as well with 13 points, five assists and three blocks. Amani Lyles and Sharron Young both scored 10 points each. Lyles notched nine rebounds, two assists and one steal while Young added six rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Akron did an excellent job taking care of the basketball, dishing out 32 assists while turning the ball over 11 times. Scott's eight assists paced the Zips. Zach Halligan, Tavari Johnson and Evan Mahaffey all recorded five helpers on the night.

Akron's defense held to only 27.1 percent shooting from the field, including 28.9 percent from beyond the arc. The Zips also limited Izzy Santiago to 3-of-12 shooting and eight points in the game. The did not have much luck cleaning up their misses on the offensive glass either, as they finished with nine offensive rebounds and managed three second chance points while Akron cleared 42 defensive rebounds.

After jumping out to a 25-17 advantage, Akron went on a 13-0 run with 10:33 left in the first half to increase its lead to 38-17. The Zips then added six points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 50-23 advantage. Akron did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 30 of its 50 points close to the basket.

Following intermission, Akron kept widening that lead, expanding it to 92-48 before going on a 9-0 run, finished off by Ognjen Stankovic's layup, to grow the lead to 101-48 with 1:37 to go in the contest. The Zips kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 109-51 win. Akron took care of business in the paint, recording 38 of its 59 points in the lane.

Akron hits the road to battle #2/1 Purdue on Sunday, November 16, for a 7:30 showdown.

Western Michigan 83, Purdue Fort Wayne 71
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Trailing by as many as 13 in the first half, the Western Michigan men's basketball team got 26 points from Jayden Brewer and 20 from Brady Swartz to come all the way back and knock off Purdue Fort Wayne, 83-71, on Wednesday night at University Arena.    
 
Brewer collected his second double-double of the young season for the Broncos (2-2), notching a career-high 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting and securing 12 rebounds. Swartz got hot from the floor as well to net his career-high 20 points, making 7-of-11 from the field, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.
 
A pair of early runs helped Purdue Fort Wayne (1-3) seize a 17-8 lead in the early going. The visitors' lead climbed as high as 13, 37-24, with just under three minutes to play in the opening period. Swartz nailed a three-pointer to ignite an 8-0 WMU run to close the half, trimming the deficit to 37-32 at the break.
 
With the margin at 42-36, Western Michigan ripped off 13 consecutive points to go ahead, 49-42, for the first time since 8-7. The Mastodons closed the gap to four at 51-47, before eight straight extended WMU's advantage to 59-47. As the game moved into the final five minutes, the Broncos put together one final eight-point burst to reach their largest lead of the night, 74-58.
 
WMU connected on 32-of-73 (43.8 percent) from the field, while holding Purdue Fort Wayne to 25-of-72 (34.7 percent) from the floor and 9-of-38 (23.7 percent) from three-point range. Western Michigan dominated on the glass, grabbing a season-high 53 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end, for a plus-15 rebounding margin. The Brown and Gold also held a 46-32 advantage in points in the paint and were plus-28 in bench points (35-7).
 
The Broncos hit the road for their next two games, starting on Sunday afternoon at South Dakota. Tip against the Coyotes is slated for 2 pm.