Tops Fall to Zips in First Round of Cayman Islands Classic

Monday, November 21

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

12:30 p.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

-31,00 CUSA

Akron

3-1,0-0MAC

Akron

Western Ky.

11/21/2022 4:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score HC Rick Stansbury Postgame Media Emmanuel Akot Postgame Media Box Score (PDF)

GEORGETOWN, GRAND CAYMAN – WKU Hilltopper Basketball took its first loss of the season to Akron in the first round of the Cayman Islands Classic on Monday afternoon, falling 72-53 to the Zips from John Gray Gymnasium.

"It's not the loss that I'm really disappointed in, we all want to win" said head coach Rick Stansbury. "But it's how we lost the game… We were out of sorts. I hadn't seen that team. That hadn't been the team that we had coached all summer and fall… We had some different lineups in there that we hadn't played, I didn't think we functioned very well or executing. Give them credit. They played hard, they executed, they got the ball where they needed to and had some guys jump up and make some timely 3's."

Dayvion McKnight hit the first shot of the game before the Zips scored the next six, taking an immediate lead. Jamarion Sharp broke up the scoring with a layup before Akron hit back-to-back 3's to extend its lead to 12-4 with 15:47 on the clock.

WKU managed to cut down the Akron lead with a few layups and four free throws from Jordan Rawls. After missing their first seven long balls, the Hilltoppers knocked down their next three.
Luke Frampton and Emmanuel Akot each hit a 3-pointer before Fallou Diagne made a floater and another 3 to tie up the ball game at 25-25 with 4:20 remaining.

The Zips responded with two 3-pointers of their own, but WKU scored the final three points of the half to cut its deficit to just 30-32.

Emmanuel Akot continued the scoring in the second half with the first bucket, but the Zips came thundering back with 10 straight points to retake a lead of 42-32. That run would seal the deal as WKU came within eight but no more.

Akron held WKU to just one field goal in the final five minutes as it scored the final 10 points of the game.

WKU shot just 37% from the field and a season-low 28.6% clip from the 3-point line while Akron shot 56.3% from the field and 40.9% beyond the arc. The Zips outrebounded the Tops 43-16.

WKU was led in scoring by Emmanuel Akot with 13 points, making five on nine attempts including 3 of 5 3-pointers. Akot added three assists and four rebounds while Dayvion McKnight logged 12 points, five rebounds and an assist.

Arkon's Enrique Freeman had a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Greg Tribble pulled down 11 boards as well while Xavier Castaneda had 16 points.

The Hilltoppers have a quick turnaround and will play Illinois State at 10 a.m. CT on Wednesday morning.

"I'm glad it's an early game," added Stansbury. "Get up and get playing. I don't like this taste; I don't like our team having this taste. It'll be a challenge for us to get back after a hard-fought battle. We'll see what we can do when we can do at 11 o'clock in the morning."

"I think we'll watch film and see what we can do better," said Akot. "Obviously, we've got to be tougher on the ball. But we've also got to have a short-term memory and apply those things to tomorrow's game against Illinois State."