It was a tale of two halves, but the Akron Zips (12-7, 4-1) saved their best for last, outscoring the Kent State Golden Flashes (12-6, 2-3) 50-33 in the second half to earn the 84-75 win.
Sophomore forward Nick Harney scored an efficient 21 points by making 10 of 12 field goals in just 14 minutes of play off the bench for the Zips. Kent State was led by junior guard Randal Holt who made three shots from behind the arc and ended the game with a game-high 27 points.
A back-and-forth first half turned Kent State's way late as the Golden Flashes finished the final three minutes on a 12-4 run to take a 42-34 lead at the break. Kent State would push that lead to nine midway through the second half until the Zips came roaring back to grab control of the game.
Akron's Nikola Cvetinovic knocked down a three-pointer to complete a 12-0 run and put the Zips up for good. A few minutes later Harney went to work scoring 10 straight points for Akron as another 12-2 run put the game away.
The win moved Akron to 4-1 in Mid-American Conference play which leaves them alone in first place atop the East Division and sets up a big game on Tuesday when the Zips hit the road to take on West Division leader, Ball State.