Akron Zips men's basketball needed close group, some luck to reach March Madness | Ulrich

CLEVELAND — No onions. Hold the avocado. Bring on the good times.

When University of Akron men's basketball coach John Groce arms himself with the Chelsea's “Is this Organic?” chicken salad sandwich during routine lunches with his Zips seniors at Diamond Deli in downtown Akron, there's never a dull moment.

“I'd say probably 90% of what's discussed at those luncheons have nothing to do with basketball,” Groce said. “People think we're crazy when we're in there 'cause those guys will start telling stories about over the last five years, some of them with basketball stories about teammates and all that, and we'll be laughing sitting in the corner in the back, and they're probably thinking, 'What are these guys doing?'”

Well, these guys are going to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years.

Akron defeated its Wagon Wheel nemesis Kent State 62-61 on Saturday night in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to claim the MAC's automatic March Madness berth.

The Zips (24-10) will find out where, when and who they'll play during Selection Sunday. The men's selection show airs at 6 p.m. on CBS.

Akron is 0-5 in NCAA Division I tourney games and will be a substantial first-round underdog after winning its fifth MAC Tournament crown.

But the Zips needed a special group to reach this point, and they have one primarily because of the bonds seniors Enrique Freeman, Ali Ali, Greg Tribble Jr., Sammy Hunter, Mikal Dawson and Kaleb Thornton have fostered.

A combination of talent, coaching, health, leadership, chemistry and, yes, luck is often required to succeed this time of year.

Akron received a huge break when Kent State sophomore guard Julius Rollins experienced a mental gaffe at the worst possible moment. After junior center Cli'Ron Hornbeak made a putback dunk to give KSU a 61-60 lead with 6.2 seconds left, Rollins inexplicably fouled Tribble in the backcourt with 4.8 seconds remaining.

Rollins must have either thought KSU (17-17) had a foul to give or trailed UA. Either way, his foul was Kent State's ninth of the half and put Tribble on the free-throw line in a one-and-one situation. Tribble made two foul shots to give Akron a 62-61 edge, and the Zips survived a shot at the final buzzer by Golden Flashes junior Jalen Sullinger while Freeman contested it.

If Akron's collective character were not strong, the Zips would have never been in position to benefit from an opponent's crucial mistake in crunch time of a title game.

On March 5, Tribble missed two free throws with 1:02 remaining in Akron's 61-60 upset loss to Eastern Michigan. With the pressure on and a trip to the NCAA Tournament at stake, Tribble redeemed himself less than two weeks later by sinking two clutch foul shots against Kent State.

As the Zips celebrated, Ali told Tribble's mother he wasn't nervous when Akron's fate hinged on her son's free throw shooting. Although Tribble had stumbled against Eastern Michigan, he has been waking up early since last summer to shoot for 45 minutes to an hour before practices. Ali knows those details, so he trusts Tribble. It's a hallmark of a tight-knit team.

UA became increasingly close and selfless when it held a players-only meeting during the second half of the season. The discussion centered on opening lines of communication to assist and teach one another instead of allowing frustration to become disruptive amid tough circumstances.

“That isn't the only reason why we're here right now, but it definitely helped,” Ali said. “It's just like how it is with your family at home. Sometimes you've got to talk — sit down and talk.

“We just addressed some things, and I think that's helped us ... to have quote, unquote tougher conversations or just holding each other accountable.”

The Zips didn't splinter after they followed their loss to Eastern Michigan with another stunning setback against Western Michigan in the regular-season finale.

Akron slipped from the MAC Tournament's first seed to No. 2, yet responded to the adversity and disappointment with a 75-63 win over No. 7 Miami in a quarterfinal Thursday, a 65-62 victory over No. 3 Ohio in a semifinal Friday and the ultimate triumph over No. 8 Kent State.

“There's not one bad apple in our locker room,” Freeman said. “From the freshmen all the way to the seniors, everybody cares about each other. And that's not on a lot of teams, and that's the reality.”

Freeman was named the MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player. He and Ali were on the all-tourney team. Ali scored a team-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field in the championship game, and Freeman compiled 17 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

"Tomorrow the sun will come up": Kent State's dream run ends in late loss to rival Akron in MAC men's basketball title game

Kent State junior forward VonCameron Davis scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed six rebounds. He landed on the all-tournament team with Sullinger, who finished with 19 points.

The emergence of Davis in recent weeks elevated Kent State after it found itself in jeopardy of missing the MAC Tournament on the heels of an 83-70 loss on Feb. 24 at Akron. A year after KSU won the MAC tourney, it clawed its way to the final seed and then shocked No. 1 Toledo 67-59 in a quarterfinal Thursday and beat No. 5 Bowling Green 73-60 in a semifinal Friday before experiencing a costly blunder in the waning moments against Akron.

The Zips capitalized, improving to 83-82 against the Golden Flashes, including 3-2 in MAC Tournament title games.

Akron's latest wild ending with Kent State will give those Zips seniors more to reminisce about over lunch.

More March Madness: Kent State women’s basketball punches its ticket to NCAA Tournament by beating Buffalo for MAC tourney title

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zips men's basketball needed special bonds to make NCAA tourney