Ohio upends Akron in OT, gains MAC's automatic bid

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Armon Bassett poured in 25 points and made the go-ahead jumper late in overtime, as the ninth-seeded Ohio University Bobcats punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with an 81-75 victory over the third-seeded Akron Zips in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game.

Bassett also pulled down six rebounds for the Bobcats (21-14), who claimed their fifth MAC tournament title and their first since 2005. D.J. Cooper donated 23 points, seven boards, and six assists for Ohio, which improved to 5-1 all-time in MAC title contests.

Jimmy Conyers finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Zips (24-10), who were playing in the event's title game for the fourth consecutive season. Akron defeated Buffalo in last year's conference final to secure its first- ever MAC tournament championship.

Chris McKnight chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Steve McNees made four three-pointers en route to 12 points in defeat.

McNees drilled a three-pointer with 1:42 left in overtime to deadlock the tilt at 75, but Bassett responded with a jumper at the other end to put Ohio in front by two.

Brett McKnight was then off mark with a trey, and Cooper made a pair of free throws at the opposite end of the floor to make it 79-75 with 24.9 seconds left.

McNees and Chris McKnight failed to make three-pointers for the Zips, sealing their fate.

Trailing 57-56 with 7 1/2 minutes to play in regulation, Ohio went on a 9-2 spurt to go ahead by six. Asown Sayles tallied four points during the surge, which Kenneth van Kempen ended with a pair of free throws to make it 65-59 with over 2 1/2 minutes to go.

Darryl Roberts stopped the bleeding by making a jumper and layup around a Bassett free throw, cutting the gap to three, 66-63, with 1:42 left.

At the other end of the floor, DeVaughn Washington turned the ball over. Roberts continued his strong play down the stretch by making a jumper from the foul line to make it 66-65 with 53.8 seconds remaining.

Bassett lost his balance and the ball at the same time, allowing Akron to run the other way with a chance to go in front. Chris McKnight's attempted layup was blocked by Washington, but the Zips kept possession as the ball went out of bounds with 19.4 ticks to go.

Akron nearly made a costly mistake when Brett McKnight threw away the inbound pass, but the Bobcats followed suit and threw away their inbound pass.

The turnovers continued to pile up in the final seconds, as Bassett stole Akron's inbound pass. Bassett made a pair of free throws to give Ohio a 68-65 lead with 13.5 seconds remaining.

McNees came up big for the Zips, though, draining a game-tying three-pointer with 6.8 ticks left. Cooper missed a jumper as time expired in regulation.

Neither team led by more than five points in a tight first half that saw Ohio take a 36-34 edge into the locker room.

The close battle carried over into the second half and into the final moments of the game.

Game Notes

Ohio leads the all-time series with the Zips, 31-30, but Akron took both regular-season matchups this season from the Bobcats....Akron was trying to become the third program in MAC tourney history to win back-to-back championships. Kent State did so in 2001 and 2002, and Ball State in 1989 and 1990...The Bobcats shot 46.7 percent from the field, while the Zips made 35.9 percent of their shots...The contest featured 13 ties and 24 lead changes.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

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