AKRON, Ohio -- Kwan Cheatham Jr. and Noah Robotham each scored 16 points and Akron used a 44-30 rebounding advantage and a late run to beat American University 72-62 in their home opener on Thursday night.Trailing 33-25 at halftime, American rallied to within 40-37 on James Washingtons layup and 3-pointer. Jimond Ivey dunked on Akrons next possession, sparking a 13-5 run and the Zips pulled ahead 53-43 with 5:38 left and the Eagles (0-3) got no closer than 8 the rest of the way.Cheatham grabbed 12 rebounds, Isaiah Johnson scored 14 points and had 10 boards and Ivey added 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Zips (1-1) were held to 36 percent shooting from the floor (20 of 55) but made 27 of 34 free throws (79 percent).Zips players were presented their 2015-16 Mid-American Conference Regular-Season Championship rings before the game. Akron finished 26-9 overall and 13-5 in league play last season.Washington and Delante Jones led American with 18 points each. Walter Payton Youth Jersey . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. Mike Singletary Bears Jersey . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. http://www.bearsfootballpro.com/Authentic_Gale-Sayers_Bears_Jersey/ . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. Dan Hampton Womens Jersey .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Mitchell Trubisky Youth Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. CHICAGO -- New Florida coach Tom Rowe met with captain Derek MacKenzie and the rest of the Panthers leadership on Monday. He talked to the whole team on Tuesday.Rowe knows Gerald Gallant is well-liked in Floridas locker room, and he wanted to be as transparent as possible on why the coach was let go just 22 games into the season.I came in and I told them, I said `Listen, were not going to change a whole lot. We need to tweak a few things, Rowe said. But if I came in here and wasnt sensitive to that, it just wouldnt work. I love our room. I love our leadership group, and weve got the right guys to help us get going.The good news for Rowe is Florida doesnt have to move very far to get into a playoff spot. The Panthers are just one point out of a wild card after a 2-1 shootout loss at Chicago on Tuesday night in Rowes first game behind the bench.We feel that were on the right track after this game today and after, obviously, the events that happened before this, defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. We think were headed in the right direction.Gallant was believed to be the right guy for Florida after he coached the Panthers to a franchise-record 103 points and the Atlantic Division title last season. He got a contract extension last January that runs through the 2018-19 season, and then-general manager Dale Tallon called him an ideal fit for our group.Not so much anymore. At least from the perspective of Floridas front office.The Panthers dropped to 11-10-1 when they blew a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 loss at Carolina on Sunday night, and that was it for Gallant. The players were informed of Gallants dismissal and the coachs luggage was taken off the team bus headed to the airport in Raleigh, North Carolina. Assistant coach Mike Kelly also was fired.They were pretty blunt, center Vincent Trocheck said. Made a coaching change, that was it.ddddddddddddGallant, who played parts of 11 seasons in the NHL, mostly with the Detroit Red Wings, then departed the arena in a taxi, drawing criticism from some of the teams fans.It was bad the way it all happened, unfortunately, said Rowe, who was promoted to general manager in May in a front-office shake-up that elevated Tallon to president of hockey operations. It didnt look good, but Ill tell you right now, we respect him and like him and Gerard and I had a good relationship.The Panthers ownership and other team officials rely heavily on advanced statistics, and Gallant was not the biggest fan of analytics. But Rowe, who returns to the bench on an interim basis, made it sound as if he was only planning small changes, beginning with Floridas defensive zone coverage.Really big believer in the D-zone being more area than man on man, he said.Rowe coached Floridas AHL affiliates in Portland and San Antonio before moving into the Panthers front office. He also served as an assistant with the Hurricanes from 2008-11.Hes hard-nosed, old-school kind of guy, said Trocheck, who played for Rowe in the minors. He gets the most of his players by getting them to work hard, make sure everybodys playing the right way.But Trocheck, who liked a handful of pro-Gallant messages on Twitter after his dismissal, said he didnt think coaching was the reason for Floridas disappointing start.Its just a matter of us kind of pulling it together, he said before the loss to Chicago. Got to come together as a group and realize that we havent been playing our best hockey and we have a lot more to go.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '