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.

Lotteruamerica NCAA Basketball Betting News


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March Madness odds and printable March Madness brackets

With the field of 64/65 set, MySportsbook.com has the Florida Gators as the 4-1 favorite to successfully defend their National Championship.  Men’s Division-1 College Basketball has not seen a team repeat as National Champions since Duke won back to back championships in ’91 & ‘92.  After losing three out of four late in the season, the Gators are full of momentum as they won their last four games by an average of 18 points.  Not surprisingly, right behind the Gators are the other three top seeds: Kansas 5-1, UNC 6-1, and Ohio State 7-1.  Many consider Kansas to be the hottest team in the country, having won 11 straight. With Kansas, it is hard to ignore all of the early exits from the “dance” in recent years.  With an impressive ACC Tournament, UNC ensured themselves the other top seed.  UNC has about as much talent as any other team in the tournament but with a team that’s best players are primarily freshman and sophomores, could youth be a concern.  Behind freshman sensation, Greg Oden, OSU will look to do what their football team failed to do just a few months earlier.  OSU seems to have peeked at the right time, as they currently have a 17 game winning streak.  Since the tournament field was expanded in 1985, there has never been an instance where all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four.  It is obvious that each of the top seeds have the talent to make it through to Atlanta.  But as everyone knows, when makes the NCAA Tournament so special are all of the spoilers and “Cinderella” stories that knock off the favorites on a daily basis.

Be sure to logon to MySportsbook.com to see check out all of the early lines and “March Madness” props.  Also be sure to enter the “$10,000,000 Perfect Bracket Contest”. If someone has the skills to predict every winner, they will be set for life and walk away with $10,000,000.  Even if no one can cash in on the Grand Prize, with a $35,000 guaranteed prize pool and a Mazda RX-8 to the first prize winner, Sportsbook.com’s bracket is a must for all “March Madness” fans.

MySportsbook.com’s odds to win the Championship and Regions:

EAST National Championship Region
Arkansas 300-1 50-1
Belmont 1000-1
Boston College 100-1 40-1
Eastern KY 1000-1
George Washington 75-1
Georgetown 10-1 3-2
Marquette 100-1 40-1
Michigan State 100-1 25-1
New Mexico St. 500-1 200-1
UNC 6-1 6-5
Oral Roberts  500-1
Texas 15-1 5-1
Texas Tech 200-1 5-1
USC 75-1 20-1
Vanderbilt 100-1 30-1
Washington State 40-1 15-1
WEST
Duke 50-1 10-1
Florida A&M 1000-1
Gonzaga 200-1  40-1
Holy Cross 300-1
Illinois 300-1 60-1
Indiana 75-1 40-1
Kansas 5-1 13-10
Kentucky 100-1 40-1
Niagara 1000-1
Pittsburgh 40-1 8-1
Southern Ill. 50-1 12-1
UCLA 10-1 3-2
VCU 500-1 100-1
Villanova 100-1 40-1
VA Tech 50-1 15-1
Weber St 1000-1
Wright St 1000-1 300-1
MIDWEST
Arizona 50-1 30-1
Butler 40-1 30-1
Davidson 300-1
Florida 4-1 4-5
Georgia Tech 75-1 25-1
Jackson State 1000-1
Maryland 30-1 6-1
Miami-OH 300-1
Notre Dame 100-1 20-1
ODU 500-1 100-1
Oregon 40-1 6-1
Purdue 300-1 60-1
Texas A&M CC 1000-1
UNLV 100-1 30-1
Winthrop 500-1 100-1
Wisconsin 15-1 7-2
SOUTH
Albany 200-1
BYU 200-1 40-1
Central CT St. 1000-1
Creighton 100-1 35-1
Long Beach St. 500-1 200-1
Louisville 40-1 10-1
Memphis 30-1 4-1
Nevada 75-1 35-1
North Texas 500-1
Ohio State 7-1 6-5
Penn 500-1
Stanford 200-1 50-1
Tennessee 100-1 20-1
Texas A&M 12-1 11-5
Virginia 75-1 18-1
Xavier 100-1 40-1

Field                                              100-1

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