The magic number was 289 for University of Akron men’s basketball coach Keith Dambrot on Tuesday night at Rhodes Arena.
Dambrot collected his UA-record 289th win with an 89-84 win over Bowling Green.
Former UA coach Russ Beichly amassed a 288-144 record during an 18-year tenure as coach from 1941-59. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Dambrot, now in his 13th season, will continue to add to the record.
Dambrot’s Zips have won at least 21 games in 11 consecutive seasons and extended the third longest home winning streak to 24 games with the victory over a Falcons (6-8, 0-1 in Mid-American Conference) team that always seem to give the Zips fits.
Dambrot said the record meant a lot to him, but more because of those who came before him. He never saw Beichly’s teams play, of course, but he did see other UA coaches such as Bobby Huggins — current West Virginia coach.
UA forward Jimond Ivey led all players with 23 points and added six rebounds. Forward Kwan Cheatham Jr. followed with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Demajeo Wiggins led the Falcons with 21 points and eight rebounds.
Typically, the Falcons remained pesky against the Zips. Or is it better to say the Zips made it unduly harsh on themselves? UA committed 16 turnovers and allowed 48 points in the paint. They hadn’t played in 12 days and had five days off during the winter break, but Dambrot said that was no excuse.
“The game was about what I expected,” Dambrot said. “We did just enough to win. I guess we can score, but we can’t guard anyone.”
The Zips (11-3, 1-0) shot 57 percent from the floor, but allowed the Falcons to shoot 54 percent. The difference in scoring showed at the 3-point arc where the Zips connected on 10 shots to Bowling Green’s four.
The Zips led 37-35 after a half in which defense was optional, each team shooting about 50 percent from the floor. The second half played like a boomerang.
UA found some semblance of defense, going on a 10-0 run and watching as center Isaiah Johnson did Isaiah Johnson things, connecting on three consecutive shots in that span.
Moments later, the Falcons answered with a 9-0 run of their own to cut UA’s lead to 59-57 with 10 minutes left in the game. For a key five-minute stretch of that run, Bowling Green held the Zips without a field goal (each team made free throws) until Ivey cut to the hoop for an easy layup with 7:38 left in the game to give UA a 63-59 lead.
The teams punched and counterpunched for the rest of the game as the Falcons persevered and the Zips were unable to land a knockout blow.
The Zips appeared to get some breathing room at the 4:45 mark courtesy of a 9-4 mini-burst capped off by a 3-pointer by Cheatham to give the Zips a 74-65 lead.
The Falcons continued to nip at the Zips’ heels for the game’s final minutes, causing Dambrot to acknowledge that his team needs work defensively.
“I will hold them accountable on the defensive end,” he said.
Playing time will be on the line if necessary.
George M. Thomas can be reached at gmthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Zips blog at www.ohio.com/zips. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeorgeThomasABJ.