CLEVELAND – There will be no more dancing for the Bobcats this March.
The Ohio men's basketball team saw it's season come to an end on Friday night, as the 2nd-seeded Akron Zips survived with a 65-62 win in the Mid-American Conference Semifinals inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Bobcats.
Senior Jaylin Hunter led the Bobcats with 17 points and grabbed five boards. Miles Brown scored 16 and Shereef Mitchell added 14.
The Zips (23-10) jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, before the Bobcats began to climb back and grab a 13-10 lead after Aidan Hadaway scored on a layup and Mitchell sank a jump shot.
Ohio (20-13) later used a 10-0 run to lengthen their lead out before halftime. During the run, the Bobcats got layups from Brown, Gabe Wiznitzer and a three from Hunter to put Ohio up 26-16 going into the break.
The Bobcats shot 34.5 percent from the field in the first half, while holding Akron to just 23.1 percent. Ohio's defense also forced 13 Akron turnovers.
Akron began chipping away at Ohio's lead in the second half, cutting the lead down to 31-25 going into the first media timeout.
Both teams traded baskets, as Mitchell completed a 3-point play and the Zips responded with a 3-pointer on the other end. But then the Bobcats became the benefactors of a technical foul on Akron and AJ Clayton sank two free throws to give Ohio a 36-28 lead.
Akron continued chipping away, as Ohio's lead shrank to just 40-38 with 9:54 remaining in the game.
The Zips took their first lead since the first half on free throws from Enrique Freeman, but Ohio grabbed back the lead on foul shots from Mitchell with about eight minutes ago.
Ohio stretched its lead out to five points on free throws from Brown and a layup from Mitchell. But an 11-0 run by Akron put them ahead 54-48 with 4:32 showing on the clock.
Clayton ended the scoring streak with a dunk, pulling the Bobcats back within four, but the Zips answered with a 3-pointer by Freeman on their next possession.
Hunter drained a trey to cut the deficit to three points. However, Akron got to the foul line and converted two shots to take a five-point lead.
Brown made it a two-point game on a layup with 14.9 seconds left, but Akron sank its foul shots to preserve the win.
Freeman led the Zips offense with 24 points and 21 rebounds.
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