Monday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 115, Concord 64
Ball State 93, Earlham 30
No. 5 Purdue 101, Kent State 60
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 115, Concord 64
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - Tavari Johnson became the 50th Zip in program history to record 1,000 points and the Akron men's basketball team recorded its 800th win at the Div. I level with a 115-64 victory over the Concord Mountain Lions at James A. Rhodes Arena on Monday.
The last Zip to reach the 1,000 point milestone was Ali Ali, who scored his 1,000th point as a Zip in the 2023-24 season.
Akron recorded its 23rd consecutive win at the JAR while also notching its ninth game of the season with 10 or 3's and seventh game with 20 or more assists.
It was also the fifth game this season that the Blue and Gold scored 100 or more points in a game.
The Zips (10-3) had four players score in double figures, led by Johnson, who had 28 points, six assists and three steals. Evan Mahaffey added 18 points and three steals, Shammah Scott added 12 points, five assists and three rebounds from the bench while Amani Lyles recorded 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists, two steals and one block.
Akron out-rebounded Concord 41-31 in Monday's game, led by Lyles' seven boards.
The Akron defense held Concord shooters to just 33.3 percent from the field.
Akron started out the scoring by going on a 13-0 run, culminating in a bucket from Lyles, to take an early lead with 16:41 left in the first half. The Zips then added nine points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 47-25 advantage. Akron did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 28 of its 47 points close to the basket.
Following the intermission, Akron kept widening that lead, expanding it to 90-56 before going on a 15-0 run, finished off by Ognjen Stankovic's layup, to grow the lead to 105-56 with 3:11 to go in the contest. The Zips kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 115-64 win. Akron took care of business in the paint, recording 44 of its 68 points in the lane.
Akron returns to Mid-American Conference action when it travels to battle the Miami RedHawks on January 3 for a 3:30 p.m. start.
Ball State 93, Earlham 30
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team started the game on a 33-0 run and cruised to a 93-30 win over Earlham on Monday night at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals held the Quakers scoreless for more than 13 minutes to begin the game and didn't allow a field goal until about five minutes to play in the first half to help build the early advantage. Ball State closed the opening period on a 9-0 run to take a 48-8 lead into halftime.
Preston Copeland posted a game-high and season-best 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field and added four rebounds while Devon Barnes followed with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Kody Clancy (career-high 11 points and five assists), Elmore James IV (10 points) and Armoni Zeigler (10 points, seven rebounds and five assists) were the other Cardinals in double figures.
Mason Jones chipped in eight points, 11 rebounds and two assists, while Easton Foster went for season-bests in points (six) and rebounds (four).
Manntavius Goodman led the visitors out of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with seven points on the night.
Ball State (4-9) outrebounded Earlham 43-25 and held a 48-12 advantage in points in the paint. The Cardinals forced 10 more turnovers (17-7) for the game on their way to enjoying a 25-4 edge in points off turnovers.
The hosts shot 63.8 percent (37-58) on field goals including 47.4 percent (9-19) from distance on the night and held the visitors to 19.1 percent shooting (9-47).
Ball State limited an opponent to 30 points or fewer for the first time since a Jan. 14, 1946 win at Wabash (37-30).
The Cardinals are set to resume Mid-American Conference play with a 2 p.m. game on Saturday at Buffalo.
