Akron beats Miami (Ohio), repeats as MAC tournament champion

CLEVELAND — Nate Johnson hit a short pull-up jumper with two seconds left and top-seeded Akron rallied from 18 points down to beat Miami (OH) 76-74 Saturday night for a second straight Mid-American Conference tournament championship and second straight berth in the NCAA tournament.

The victory also gave Akron coach John Groce his fourth win in five meetings over his 10-years-younger half-brother, Akron coach Travis Steele. Their mother, Barbara Steele, watched the game wearing an Akron-blue sweater while sitting in the red Miami rooting section.

The RedHawks, who lost by 27 points in the regular-season against the Zips, grabbed an 8-6 lead less than four minutes into the contest and extended it to 18 points after a Peter Suder layup with 8:13 left in the first half. Akron clawed back to cut its deficit to 12 at the break.

Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 5:14 left to get Akron within two, 72-70 and the RedHawks went ice-cold from the field, missing two layups, two 3-point attempts and a mid-range jumper over the next three minutes before Johnson, the MAC Player of the Year, tied the game with 1:41 left.

Shammah Scott converted two free throws with 1:05 remaining to put the Zips in front, but Evan Ipsaro did the same to make it 74-74 with under a minute left. Ipsaro missed a driving shot with :08 to go that Amani Lyles rebounded, then found Johnson breaking toward midcourt for the game-winner.

Johnson finished with 22 points and five assists to lead Akron (28-6). Tavari Johnson added 15 points, hitting 3 of 4 from deep.

Suder hit 6 of 9 3-point attempts and led Miami with 24 points. Ipsaro contributed 12 points and Kam Craft added 11 points and five rebounds.