Akron freshman forward Jake Kretzer grew up about 69 miles from Athens in Waverly, Ohio. He played several high school tournament games at The Convo and was recruited by former Ohio coach John Groce, but said he didn’t receive a scholarship offer.
In a homecoming of sorts, Kretzer drained every shot he offered up Wednesday in the No. 24 Zips’ 88-81 overtime win against Ohio.
Kretzer didn’t miss and scored 19 points on six shots from the field — five of which were from beyond the arc, much like fellow freshman forward Reggie McAdams, who converted 3-of-4 from the perimeter in the teams’ first meeting on Feb. 2.
He didn’t hesitate in saying it was his best shooting performance ever.
“It was a dream come true,” Kretzer said.
A dream, however, that the Bobcats almost soured for him and his teammates.
After allowing Akron (23-4, 13-0 Mid-American Conference) to mount a 9-0 lead 2:16 into the game, Ohio (20-8, 11-2 MAC) raced to a 32-7 run over the next 13:11 before fading, heading into halftime, at which point Ohio led by 11.
Akron coach Keith Dambrot said the first half was, “like déjà vu,” in reference to the teams’ first meeting this year.
The Zips claimed the game’s upper hand early in the second half, mounting a 15-0 run that spanned more than five minutes of play, but were pushed to overtime when Ohio redshirt junior forward Jon Smith tipped in an errant three-point shot as time expired.
Similarly to their first game against Akron, the Bobcats shot 56 percent in the first half.
They also converted five of their eight three-point attempts.
It wasn’t their first half shooting statistics that jumped off the page, though. Ohio, the MAC’s second-worse rebounding team, dominated the glass by grabbing 15 rebounds to Akron’s nine.
“(In) the first half we played probably as well as we’ve played for a month, defensively,The beginning of the second half marked a different story for the Bobcats, as the Zips’ tenacious interior duo of senior center Zeke Marshall and junior forward Demetrius Treadwell began to pick up steam.
“We got good shots, shots we normally make, however, we have to keep guarding and maintain our lead and hustle plays,” Christian said. “We let them get back in the game from about three feet (under the basket).”
The inside attack created space for Kretzer and Akron junior guard Alex Abreu to spot up and hit shots from long range.
They made Ohio pay, as they combined for 18 points from three-point range in the second half.
Still, the Bobcats fought back after being down by as many as six at several points, the last of which with 7:32 remaining.
Ohio outscored Akron by a 15-9 margin for the remainder of regulation, which was enough to push the game to overtime, which the Zips would have to take on without Marshall, who fouled out with 43 seconds remaining.
The Bobcats failed to capitalize on any momentum in overtime, as they shot 1-for-5 from the field and permitted the Zips seven second-chance points on three offensive rebounds.
“Obviously our offense wasn’t going, but we could have held our hats on defending and rebounding and we didn’t do that,” Ohio redshirt senior guard Walter Offutt said.
The loss, witness by an announced crowd of 11,000 strong, essentially pushed Ohio out of a regular season MAC title contention.
Akron became the first team to go 13-0 in conference history, while the Bobcats will now play primarily for MAC Tournament seeding.
But when it’s all said and done, they have a pretty good idea of what team will be waiting for them when they get there.
“Our eyes are set on the MAC Championship now,” Offutt said. rebounding the basketball, getting every loose ball,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
