Akron 67, E. Michigan 53

Published Mar. 8, 2011 9:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Nikola Cvetinovic scored 13 points and Akron defeated Eastern Michigan 67-53 on Tuesday night to advance to the Mid-American Conference tournament quarterfinals.

The sixth-seeded Zips (20-12), who will face No. 3 seed Miami (Ohio) on Thursday, won 20 games for the sixth straight season, the longest 20-win season streak in school history.

Down 9-4 early, Akron went on a 19-2 run, eventually leading 31-22 at halftime.

The 11th-seeded Eagles (9-22) got within five points twice early in the second half, but could get no closer than six after that.

Brett McKnight added 11 points and Darryl Roberts and Steve McNees scored 10 apiece for the Zips, who snapped a two-game skid.

Brandon Bowdry scored 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting and J.R. Sims added 12 for Eastern Michigan, which shot 37.3 percent from the field (19 of 51) compared to Akron's 48.9 percent (23 of 47).