The University of Akron basketball teams opened their 2026-27 seasons Monday, November 2, with a split decision: the men won 75-61 at Louisiana, while the women lost a 75-74 heartbreaker to South Alabama at Rhodes Arena, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.
The men’s win came in the Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Challenge at the Cajundome in Lafayette, and it doubled as the first victory of Dustin Ford’s tenure as Akron’s head coach. Newcomer Ty Pence led the way in his Zips debut with 19 points, eight rebounds and two assists, making 6 of 12 shots from the field and all five of his free throws in 34 minutes, according to the Beacon Journal.
Akron set the tone immediately. The Zips scored the first eight points of the game — a Colin White 3-pointer, then two Pence layups and a free throw — and never trailed, building a 46-29 halftime lead, the Beacon Journal reported. Tahj Staveskie added 16 points and three assists in 38 minutes, and Evan Mahaffey contributed 16 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
Mahaffey’s presence in the lineup was itself a storyline. The eligibility of Mahaffey and reserve Kamrin Oriol had been in question, but both played in the October 27 exhibition win over Youngstown State, and an October 29 order filed by the Ohio Supreme Court kept them available by preserving a previous ruling made earlier in October, according to the Beacon Journal. Oriol finished with five points, six rebounds and three assists in the opener.
Louisiana was led by Jamyron Keller’s game-high 26 points and four assists; Dani Pounds scored 15 and Trent Middleton Jr. added 14 for the Ragin’ Cajuns, the Beacon Journal reported. White finished with nine points and four rebounds for Akron, while Halil “Chabi” Barre and Buddy Hammer Jr. each had four points and four rebounds.
The women’s opener, at home in Rhodes Arena, turned on the final seconds. Kailee Bransford hit a 3-pointer to give Akron a 74-73 lead with 23 seconds left, but South Alabama’s Jaida Redwine answered with a layup with less than two seconds remaining to lift the Jaguars to the 75-74 win, according to the Beacon Journal.
There was plenty for the rebuilt Zips women to build on. Newcomer Macey Fegan, who previously played at Cleveland State, recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes — the kind of debut Akron’s staff hoped for when it assembled this roster, which NewsForce247 previewed in our look at the rebuilt Akron women’s team before Monday’s opener. Shaena Brew had 12 points and four assists, Tyla Heard contributed 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Jessie Joaquim added eight points and 11 rebounds.
South Alabama was led by CJ Wilson’s 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, with Jolie Mantz scoring 16 and Julieta Ceja 12, the Beacon Journal reported. Deborah Orianegbena added nine points and 12 rebounds for the Jaguars, matching Joaquim on the glass.
The men’s game told a quieter second-half story. Louisiana outscored Akron 32-29 after halftime, trimming into that 17-point deficit, but the Zips’ opening run and halftime cushion held up the rest of the way — Akron never gave back the lead it took in the game’s first minute, the Beacon Journal reported. For a first-time head coach opening on the road, in a challenge event, with two players’ eligibility settled only days earlier, a wire-to-wire win is the steadiest possible start.
The women’s loss, by contrast, will sting precisely because of how close the new group already is. A team rebuilt around transfers and newcomers — Fegan from Cleveland State among them — went possession-for-possession with South Alabama, took the lead in the final half-minute on Bransford’s 3-pointer, and lost it on the game’s last shot. Heard’s line — 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals — underlined how much of Akron’s identity this season is expected to come from defensive pressure and balanced scoring rather than a single star.
Akron’s big sports week is just getting started. Tonight, the city’s attention shifts to InfoCision Stadium, where unbeaten-in-the-MAC Ohio opens midweek MACtion at Akron under the lights. On the hardwood, Ford’s men start 1-0 with a road win in hand, and the women — beaten by a single point at the buzzer’s edge — get their next chance to turn a promising debut into a win.
Photo: Cards84664, CC BY-SA