CLEVELAND -- Zeke Marshall scored 18 points with 10 rebounds and seven blocks as Akron kept its NCAA tournament hopes alive by beating rival Kent State 62-59 on Friday night in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference tourney.
Playing just its second game without suspended point guard Alex Abreu, the Zips (25-6) overcame some atrocious foul shooting to make the final for the seventh straight year. Akron went just 13 of 29 from the line. Abreu was arrested last week on drug trafficking charges.
Randal Holt scored 19 points for Kent State (20-13), which lost to Akron for the third straight year in the tournament.
Golden Flashes forward Chris Evans, who scored 25 in a quarterfinal win over Buffalo, had just six points on 1-of-11 shooting before fouling out.
Demetrius Treadwell added 14 points for the Zips, who will meet the Ohio-Western Michigan semifinal winner on Saturday for the conference's automatic NCAA bid.
Abreu's shocking arrest last week near campus had rocked the Zips and threatened to end a special season.
Akron had won 19 of 20 games, and the day after Abreu was charged with marijuana possession after police said he accepted a package containing five pounds of pot, the Zips were beaten at home by the Golden Flashes.
With a week to work freshman Carmelo Betancourt into the starting lineup, Akron coach Keith Dambrot wasn't sure what to expect from his team.
The Zips, though, found a way despite their woes at the line.
They can thank Marshall for leading the way. The 7-foot senior was a force at both ends in the second half -- he had 14 points and six blocks after halftime -- and his layup with 1:59 left pulled Akron within 57-56. Treadwell scored inside to give Akron the lead, and on Kent State's next possession, he stole a handoff to give the Zips possession.
Nick Harney, who played point for much of the second half, split a pair of free throws and then missed two more with 36 seconds left to keep Kent State close.
Holt missed a pair of jumpers, and Akron senior Brian Walsh stepped to the line and calmly made two free throws -- his only points -- to give the Zips a 61-57 lead with 6.7 seconds left.
Holt made an uncontested layup in the final second, and Marshall made a free throw with .02 on the clock, closing out a win the Zips had to have to keep their NCAA dreams from dying.
The MAC hasn't had two teams make the NCAA field since 1999, and a loss would surely have ended any chance Akron had of impressing the tournament committee.
A sleeping giant for much of the first half, Marshall awakened in the opening minutes after halftime.
He scored on a dunk, dropped a 3-pointer, made a block and scored on a short jumper as the Zips opened a 39-31 lead. He then picked up two fouls in 30 seconds, but Dambrot gambled and left his big man on the floor until the under-16-minute timeout.
Playing cautiously after picking up two fouls, Evans didn't score for the first 19:54 of the first half.
He announced his arrival with a stunning dunk.
The 6-foot-8 senior powered down the lane and slammed over Marshall, and then Evans and his teammates celebrated the stunning play with loud screams that could be heard over the roaring Kent State crowd. The dunk helped the Golden Flashes close the half with an 8-3 run to close within 32-29.
But Evans never got it going after halftime and dejectedly went to the bench after fouling out in the final minute.
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