CLEVELAND, Ohio — You come at the king, you best not miss.
After trailing by as many as 18 points, and weathering Miami’s storm of 3-pointers, Akron walked out of Rocket Arena with a 76-74 win Saturday in the MAC men’s basketball tournament final, their program’s sixth MAC tournament championship and second straight.
When Johnson drained a 3-pointer with 5:14 left in the second half, that cut Miami’s lead to 72-70.
For some time after the bucket, neither team scored. The Zips were unable to tie the game, and the RedHawks couldn’t buy a bucket.
Then came Johnson, the reigning MAC Player of the Year, with a jumper to tie it 72-all.
Miami’s Kam Craft, who had five 3-pointers in Friday’s semifinal win, tried to answer back with a trey, but was unsuccessful.
The Zips' Shammah Scott attacked the basket and was fouled, and made both free throws to give Akron a 74-72 lead, and their first since the 18:11 mark of the first half when leading 6-5.
Evan Ipsaro of the RedHawks took that same plan and got to the line himself, also making both to tie it again, 74-all, with 56 seconds remaining.
With 35 seconds left, it was Ipsaro again with the ball in his hands as the shot clock got closer to zero. He got as deep as he could in the paint before trying a fadeaway jumper, but it was a miss.
With eight seconds left, and everyone chasing the rebound, it was Akron’s Amani Lyles who grabbed it first and found Johnson running downcourt.
Johnson caught the ball, pulled off a euro-step past a Miami player, and so gracefully floated into the air for the game-winning teardrop with two seconds left.
Miami tried a last-second heave, but couldn’t get it up in time, giving Akron their third tournament championship in four seasons, and making them the first team since Buffalo (2018-2019) to win consecutive tournament crowns.
Thanks to the large waves of navy blue, Rocket Arena felt like a home game for Akron. Miami had a big section of red behind their team bench, but were overshadowed by the Zips' faithful in pre-tipoff cheers.
However, the RedHawks fans had their moment early on.
Only one name mattered in the first half: Peter Suder.
After Friday’s semifinal win over Kent State, Suder looked forward to playing Akron and avenging the 27-point loss suffered to them in January.
“They’re a really good team, but I think we’ll be a different version than the last time we played them,” Suder said Friday.
The transfer from Bellarmine caught fire and made a statement. He scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half, only missing one of his seven field goal attempts, and draining four treys.
He simply couldn’t miss, and neither could his teammates, making 10 of their 18 first-half 3-point attempts.
A made layup at the 8:13 mark of the first half gave Suder his 16th point, and a 34-16 lead for Miami, meaning he had as many points as Akron did.
And the RedHawks’ defense was sturdy, creating 11 points off seven Zips turnovers.
The Zips faithful was big in numbers, but small in noise due to the early lead the RedHawks created.
But the championship DNA in Akron helped it find new ways to stick around and only trail 46-34 going into halftime.
The RedHawks cooled off from beyond the arc, and Johnson found his rhythm offensively.
Johnson’s arsenal to get to the paint and earn points was visible, dribbling his way past anyone wearing red to earn 15 of his 23 points in the second half.
The aggressiveness from Johnson spread to his teammates, especially in terms of attacking the basket, which forced seven RedHawks fouls.
Akron’s Tavari Johnson caught some fire as well and drained three treys during their comeback, and finished with 15 points.
Gritty defense kept Miami to a 41.7% shooting performance in the second half, and to eight points in the paint.
The RedHawks were unable to continue their offensive clinic, and it hurt them in the end as Ipsaro’s two free throws were their only points scored in the final five minutes of the game.
Akron completed the comeback, and showed you should never underestimate the heart of a champion.
They will learn of their first-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 6 p.m. when the bracket is revealed on CBS.
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