Akron returns to MAC title game

CLEVELAND (AP) — Chris McKnight scored 16 points as Akron got back to the Mid-American Conference title game for the second straight year with a 73-63 win over Western Michigan in a rough-and-tumble semifinal on Friday night.

The Zips, beaten by Miami of Ohio on a controversial buzzer-beating shot in last year’s tournament championship, avenged a 22-point loss to the Broncos last month. Now, they’ll get a chance to play for their first NCAA tourney appearance since 1986.

Akron will meet the winner of the second semifinal between top-seeded Kent State and Miami of Ohio in Saturday’s championship for the MAC’s automatic NCAA bid.

Cedric Middleton added 13 points and Jeremiah Wood had 12 for the Zips, who shot 59 percent from the floor and made their free throws down the stretch.

Joe Reitz led the Broncos with 19 points and David Kool had 17.

From the opening tip, the teams traded elbows, hard fouls and stares. At one point, the officials had to step in and separate players before things escalated.

Two of Western Michigan’s assistant coaches played for the Zips. One of them is Andy Hipsher, whose father, Dan, was fired at Akron in 2004 and replaced by current coach Keith Dambrot.