CLEVELAND — It was a good day for college basketball in Northeast Ohio.
At the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference men's tournament in Cleveland, both Akron and Kent State advanced. The Zips beat Western Michigan 70-68 on Greg Tribble's two free throws with 3.2 seconds left, while the Golden Flashes took care of Miami of Ohio 85-75 behind Malique Jacobs' double-double.
Ali Ali scored 19 points and Xavier Castaneda had 15 and six rebounds for fourth-seeded Akron (22-9). Mikal Dawson added 14 points and St. Martin De Porres alum Enrique Freeman had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Buffalo missed a 3-pointer with 22 seconds to go, and Tribble was fouled as he drove to the basket. Jeenathan Williams had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls (19-11), but Ronaldo Segu — whose 15 points per game coming into the contest ranked second on the Bulls — shot only 11% for the game (1 of 9).
Following UA's showing, 2-seed Kent State took the floor, with Jacobs eventually finishing with 21 points (12 of 15 on foul shots shots) and 11 rebounds. Solon native and MAC Player of the Year Sincere Carry had 15 points and eight assists for the Flashes (22-9), while Justyn Hamilton added 15 points and nine rebounds and Andrew Garcia scored 12.
Precious Ayah had 16 points for the RedHawks (14-18). Lorain product Dae Dae Grant added 15 points and six rebounds while Mekhi Lairy scored 14.
Akron will now face top-seeded Toledo Friday at 5 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Kent State will take on No. 3 seed Ohio roughly a half-hour after that game concludes.