+ Eastern Michigan 91, Northern Illinois 57
+ Buffalo 86, Ohio 66
+ Toledo 91, Western Michigan 44
+ Kent State 64, Miami 51
MUNCIE, IN -- Ball State rode another hot shooting performance to a 97-91 victory over Central Michigan Saturday at Worthen Arena, locking up a spot in the eight-team MAC Tournament with two regular season games left.
Senior guard Ishmael El-Amin racked up 33 points to lead all scorers, while sophomore point guard Jarron Coleman added 24 for the Cardinals, who racked up 23 assists on 33 made baskets while raising their record to (9-11, 7-8 MAC). Also reaching double figures were Brachen Hazen (14) and K.J. Walton (11)
Ball State hit 55.9 percent of its shots from the field and 48.1 percent outside the arc. It was the kind of offensive performance the Cardinals needed against a Central Michigan team that hit one less field goal while shooting 47.8 percent overall.
PRODUCTIVE CMU TRIO
Three Chippewa players combined for 75 points as Central Michigan (6-15, 2-12 MAC) battled hard while trying to break its seven-game losing streak. Ralph Bissainthe led the effort with 27 points and Meikkel Murray and Caleb Huffman contributed 24 each.
TURNING POINT
Central Michigan cut a 10-point Ball State lead to two at 71-69 with 6:10 to play, but Coleman answered to stave off the Chippewas. Coleman knocked down 3-pointers on two of the next three BSU possessions. He later added a pair of free throws and another three as part of a 13-4 run that stretched the lead back to double figures. Central Michigan was then forced to foul down the stretch to try to overcome their deficit..
"I thought our guys played really hard, and I thought Central Michigan played really hard," BSU head coach James Whitford said. "They really competed from start to finish and played well, and they made shots. I thought it was two teams really battling. But we really shared the ball and played well on offense.
(BSU Athletics/MRO Edit)
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Eastern Michigan shook off a seven-game losing streak with an impressive victory over Mid-American Conference foe Northern Illinois University, 91-57, Saturday inside the Convocation Center.
It was the second conference win of 2020-21 for EMU (5-11 overall (2-10 MAC). The loss drops NIU, who has now lost six straight, to 2-15 (1-11 MAC).
Eastern Michigan's seniors shined bright on Senior Night at the Convocation Center. The four combined to score 63 of the Eagles' points on 60.5% shooting from the field and 72.7% from deep. Morgan led all scorers with a season-high 22 points, while adding four assists and three rebounds.
Montero finished the contest with 20 points and five rebounds, while Groce added his fifth career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Spottsville contributed six points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Outside of the seniors, junior Bryce McBride poured in 14 points, while adding four assists.
Eastern Michigan struck first thanks to a Montero layup at the 17:40 mark of the first half. Over the next three minutes, the Eagles sparked a 9-5 run to take the 11-5 lead with 14:40 left in the opening stanza. Northern Illinois answered with a 13-8 scoring stint to tie
The game was tied at 19-all with less than nine minutes remaining in the first. Eastern Michigan then moved in front and extended its advantage to 13 points (42-29).
Three-straight EMU buckets capped a 12-7 run highlighted by a Groce tip-in which propelled the Eagles to a five-point lead, 31-26, with under four to play in the first half. From there, the Green and White extended their lead to 13, 42-29 as the first stanza ended.
Coming out of the locker room, EMU exploded with a 12-2 run to gain a 22-point lead (54-32) with 17 minutes left in the second half. Morgan, McBride, and Montero each drained consecutive baskets from downtown to cap off a 9-0 run to extend the Eagles' advantage to 63-34 at the 13:42 mark of the second stanza and Eastern Michigan cruised in for its 91-57 final verdict.
Statistically, the Eagles outpaced the Huskies in field goal percentage (50.8-36.8), 3-pointers (12-6), rebounds (41-29), assists (15-11), blocks (4-2), steals (9-5), points off turnovers (25-13), points in the paint (36-30) and second chance points (10-9).
ATHENS, OH – The Buffalo Bulls continued a late-season run of success while halting an opponent's win streak Saturday as UB downed Ohio 86-66 at the Convocation Center.
Buffalo won for the sixth time in the last seven games, raising the Bulls to 12-7 overall and 10-5 in MAC play. The hosts shot 60% from the floor in the first half and 62.5% from three point range as UB raced out to a 20-point halftime lead.
Ohio, which entered Saturday with six straight wins, fell hard at home after edging the Bulls 76-75 back on Jan. 29 in Buffalo. The Bobcats head into next week's final regular season competition with a 13-7 overall mark (9-5 MAC).
Ohio twice led by one point early in the contest, but a 13-2 Buffalo run put the Bulls in charge early. The first five points came from senior David Nickelberry, who set a new career high in scoring with 16 points.
Leading 18-11, the Bulls went on a 15-2 run as back-to-back three pointers from Josh Mballa and Tra'von Fagan pushed the Buffalo lead to 33-13 with 7:42 left. Ohio would cut the lead down to 13, but the Bulls ended the half on a 7-0 run, giving UB a 52-32 lead at the break.
Ohio tallied the first six points of the second half, but a three from Graves ignited a 9-0 Buffalo run. A pair of free throws from Mballa gave the Bulls their largest lead of the afternoon at 75-45 with 10:05 left. Ohio would cut the lead down to 19 late, but it never got any closer.
Buffalo was led by 23 points from Mballa, who had 19 of those in the first half. Nickelberry finished with a career high 16 points, while Jayvon Graves registered 12 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and three steals.Fagan added 10 points off the bench.
Buffalo outrebounded Ohio, 41-36 and the Bulls forced Ohio into 15 turnovers as UB recorded 11 steals.
Ben Roderick paced Ohio with 15 points, followed by 10 apiece from Lunden McDay and Jason Preston. The Bobcats shot 37.3 percent from the field overall and were just 4-of-24 (16.7%) outside the arc.
(Courtesy of UB Athletics)
TOLEDO, Ohio - Toledo secured the No. 1 seed in the 2021 Mid-American Conference Tournament on Saturday evening with a dominating 91-44 victory over Western Michigan in Savage Arena.
The win improved UT's record to 19-6 overall and 14-3 in league play. Western Michigan dropped its fourth straight while falling to 4-15, 3-11 MAC).
"We obviously played really well tonight," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "Western is a lot better than they played. We just had a really good night. I thought the key to the game was our defensive intensity at the start. Winning a share of the regular season is important for us, but we still have a lot to play for Tuesday night at Central Michigan."
Senior Marreon Jackson produced another strong all-around game to lead Toledo, finishing with 22 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and a career-high tying five steals in just 29 minutes.
Jackson's backcourt mates, senior Spencer Littleson and freshman Ryan Rollins, enjoyed standout performances as well. Littleson scored 17 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting, while Rollins tallied 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. Junior JT Shumate and sophomore Keshaun Saunders also finished in double figures with 13 points each.
The Broncos, meanwhile, had just one player in double figures. Greg Lee had team-high's in both points (14) and rebounds (6).
Toledo never trailed and held a 54-16 halftime lead after shooting 60.0 percent from the field and 10-of-18 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. The Rockets finished with a 54.5 shooting mark and a 41.9 (13-of-31) three-point FG%.
Western Michigan was limited to a 28.8 FG% and a 3-of-26 showing behind the three-point arc by the stifling Toledo defense.
FIRST HALF
Toledo jumped right on the Broncos with Spencer Littleson and Ryan Rollins each hitting three-pointers en route to a 12-1 lead in the game's first four minutes.
Another Littleson triple increased Toledo's margin to 27-12 and forced the Broncos to take the game's first timeout at the 8:12 mark.
Marreon Jackson then spearheaded an 18-0 spurt to increase the Rockets' lead to 47-14 just over three minutes before halftime.
Toledo scored the final seven points of the opening stanza to take a 54-16 lead to the locker room.
SECOND HALF
The Broncos trimmed the Rockets' lead to 58-28 with a 12-4 run in the first two minutes after halftime.
Jackson responded with five straight points and Rollins followed with a steal and dunk to put Toledo in front 65-28 at the 15:58 mark.
The Rockets took their largest lead, 91-40, on Mattia Acunzo's jumper with 3:02 to play.
(Courtesy of UT Athletics/MRO Edit)
By MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, OH -- Kent State went to its strengths Saturday while rebounding from a mid-week loss with a 64-51 victory over Miami Saturday at Millett Hall.
The Flashes strong inside presence did most of the offensive damage and handled the boards. Kent State's defense did its part -- and then some -- by creating turnovers and forcing MU into tough shots. The Flashes outscored MU 13-4 on points off turnovers. Overall, Miami connected on 34.5 percent from the field (19-of-55) and 32.0 percent (8-of-25) beyond the arc.
Kent State, meanwhile, was good on 44.1 percent overall. Miami's turnovers and a lopsided 45-27 rebounding advantage helped the visitors have six more field goals on the afternoon. KSU owned a 13-6 advantage in offensive rebounds and outscored the RedHawks 20-5 in second chance points.
Senior forwards Trevor Beck (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Danny Pippin (15 points, 10 rebounds) both notched double-doubles for Kent State. Justyn Hamilton, a 6-11 junior, conrtibuted 14 points and seven caroms.
Myja White paced the RedHawks with 14 points. James Beck and Dalonte Brown contributed 11 apiece, although the latter battled some foul problems and played just over 20 minutes. Only one other MU player had over three points, and the teams leading scorer -- Dae Dae Grant was held to two points after going scoreless in Wednesday's game. As in that contest, he did not shoot a free throw.
There were five lead changes in the first half, but Kent State grabbed the momentum late. After James Beck gave MU a 27-26 lead with a putback of his own miss at 2:24, the Flashes outscored Miami 10-2 to hold a 36-29 edge at the break.
Kent State was up by six at the 11:05 mark of period two when it went on an 11-1 run. Giovanni Santiago's score in the lane at 4:53 left the Flashes in charge with a 16-point advantage. Brown's dunk at 4:04 turned out to be Miami's final points.
Neither team reached 30 points over the second 20 minutes, but KSU owned a 28-22 advantage.