Zips zap Niagara

By Pat Murray
Niagara Gazette

LEWISTON November 25, 2006 10:29 pm

— The Niagara Purple Eagles knew they couldn't run and gun against the Akron Zips, so they decided to lower the tempo. The result was a slow and agonizing death as the Zips claimed a 63-48 non-conference victory at the Gallagher Center on Saturday night to keep Niagara winless on the year.
“We came to the conclusion that the longer they (Akron) were on defense, the more it would play into our hands,” Niagara coach Joe Mihalich said. “With all of their firepower they want to get the ball and score. We tried to frustrate them a little bit.”
The plan worked early, as Niagara (0-3) built a 9-2 lead a little more than 4 minutes into the game.
“They did what they had to do to hang around,” Akron coach Keith Dombrot said of Niagara's deliberate pace. “They gave us all we wanted. We had a hard time. The match-up zone bothered us, the slowness bothered us.”
But the Zips adjusted, and once they did, Akron controlled the game.
“Our guys know that you have to play different ways in different situations,” Dombrot said. “What we decided to do was just guard them in the last 10 seconds of the shot clock. We knew they were going to hold the ball, why chase them?”
The Purple Eagles suffered through another dreadful shooting performance, connecting on 36.4 percent of their shots from the field (20-of-55), including 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from 3-point range. For the season, Niagara is 11-of-77 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
“Not to beat a dead horse, but the difference was the 3-point line,” Mihalich said. “They go 10-for-23, we go 4-for-17. It’s something we're going to continue to work on.”
It's the first time since the 2002-2003 season that Niagara has opened the season at 0-3.
“To be 0-3, I hate it,” said Niagara forward J.R. Duffey, who finished 14 points. “Nobody feels good about being 0-3. I know we're short (on numbers) right now, but we're going to be good when everybody gets back. We're going to be a problem for other teams.”
Clif Brown led Niagara with 15 points and eight rebounds. Nick Dials had 13 points and seven assists for the Zips. Akron's Romeo Travis also had 13 points.
Niagara has its first road game of the season at 7 p.m. Wednesday when it travels to St. Bonaventure.
“We can't wait to play,” Mihalich said. “I wish we were getting on that bus tonight to go play.”