The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

GARVIN Clarke and his Akron Zips pulled off an upset in thrilling fashion to advance to the MAC Tournament semifinals.

With the score tied at 68 and 3.2 seconds remaining, sophomore guard Greg Tribble made the go ahead pair of free throws to lift the Zips past Buffalo, 70-68 yesterday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse at Cleveland, Ohio.

Clarke finished with three points and two rebounds off the bench. The Zips improved to 22-9 on the season, 14-6 in the MAC. They will face off against the top seeded Toledo Rockets in the semifinal at 5:30pm today.

Clarke is averaging 3.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in 22 appearances off the bench. He scored a career high 12 points in a November 18 win over Wheeling. He also had nine point outings in back-to-back games on February 22 and 25.

Clarke made his senior men’s national basketball team debut last November at the FIBA World Cup 2023 Americas Pre- Qualifiers for Group A.

At the prep level, Clarke completed his high school career with Cleveland Heights Tigers after spending his previous seasons with the Euclid Panthers, both in Cleveland, Ohio.

The 6’0” point guard was listed as a three-star recruit by several recruiting services and chose Akron over Buffalo, Cleveland State, Florida A&M and Youngstown State.