KENT, Ohio – The University of Akron men's basketball team was unable to overcome a late Kent State rally and the Zips lost 67-63 to the Flashes on Sunday in the Mid-American Conference regular-season finale for both teams at M.A.C. Center.

The loss denied Akron (19-12, 10-6) a chance to claim a league title and gain the No.1 seed in the MAC Tournament, which begins on Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The fifth-seeded Zips will square off against 12th-seeded Toledo at 6 p.m. EDT in the tournament's opening round.

With UA leading 62-60 with 1:07 remaining in regulation, KSU's Al Fisher found Mike McKee wide open in the corner behind the 3-point arc to put the Flashes ahead 63-62 with 1:02 on the clock. McKee then stole the ball from Brett McKnight on the ensuing possession. Fisher and Tyree Evans hit four free throws with under 20 seconds to play to secure the win.

Three-straight 3-pointers by Akron – one by Steve McNees, one by Nate Linhart and one by Brett McKnight – gave Akron a 58-55 advantage with 5:22 remaining, but a put-back by Brandon Parks, who finished with a game-high nine rebounds, started the Kent State (18-13, 10-6) comeback as the Zips were held without a field goal for the final six minutes of the contest.

Fisher led all players with 18 points and also had a game-high five assists to go with six rebounds.

Brett McKnight led Akron with 14 points, while Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens had 13 points and three assists. Linhart finished with nine points, a career-high-tying five steals (all in the first half) and five rebounds for UA.

The Zips shot 38 percent (19-of-50) from the field, compared to a 41.1 percent (23-of-56) by the Flashes. Kent State (18-13, 10-6) owned a 43-31 advantage on the boards and converted 19 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points.

Akron built its lead to 10 points twice in the first half (21-11 and 29-19), but Kent State closed the gap to 31-27 at the intermission as Fisher scored five points in the final two minutes of the stanza.

KSU's Chris Singletary was ejected from the game after committing a flagrant personal foul with 18:52 remaining in the first half.

2009 FirstEnergy MAC Men’s Basketball Tournament (all times EDT)  Printable Bracket (PDF)

Tuesday, March 10 (First Round)
No. 7 Central Michigan vs. No. 10 Eastern Michigan, noon
No. 6 Kent State vs. No. 11 Northern Illinois, 2 p.m.*
No. 8 Western Michigan vs. No. 9 Ohio, 4 p.m.*
No. 5 Akron vs. No. 12 Toledo, 6 p.m.*

Thursday, March 12 (Quarterfinal Round)
No. 2 Ball State vs. No. 7/No. 10 Winner, noon (FS Ohio)
No. 3 Buffalo vs. No. 6/No.11 Winner, 2:30 p.m.* (FS Ohio)
No. 1 Bowling Green vs. No. 8/No. 9 Winner, 7 p.m. (FS Ohio)
No. 4 Miami vs. No. 5/No. 12 Winner, 9:30 p.m.* (FS Ohio)

Friday, March 13 (Semifinal Round)
No. 2/7/10 vs. No. 3/6/11 Winner,7:30 p.m. (FS Ohio)
No. 1/8/9 vs. No. 4/5/12 Winner, 9:30 p.m. (FS Ohio)

Saturday, March 14 (Championship)
Championship Game (ESPN2), 8 p.m.

*or 30 minutes following previous game