BALL STATE 93, TOLEDO 83
AKRON, OH -- Enrique Freeman scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Akron past Miami 66-55 Friday night at James A. Rhodes Arena. The two teams will match up again Sunday in Oxford.
Joining Freeman in double figures for the Zips were Xavier Castaneda with 11 points (3 of 3 on treys) and Ali Ali, who added 10 points.
Miami (9-12, 3-7 MAC) was paced by Dae Dae Grant's 18 points. Mekhi Lairy contributed 10 for the RedHawks, who lost their fourth straight.
Akron used an 18-2 second half run to power its bounce back victory. The Zips, who fell at Toledo one week ago. trailed 37-36 after MU's Kamari Williams hit a triple at 16:27 of the second half. Freeman responded with a layup at the other end to start Akron's decisive run. Ali's bucket at 9:44 left the Zips with a 54-39 advantage.
Miami pulled within seven with 4:05 remaining, but UA put the game away with seven free throws. The Zips converted 11 of 17 shots from the line overall, while Miami ws 6 of 7 on charity tosses.
Akron connected on 25 of 50 from the field overall, while Miami made 21 of 57. The Zips dominated the boards with a 40-26 rebounding edge and also scored 38 points in the paint to just 26 by the RedHawks.
MUNCIE, Ind. – Six Ball State players reached double-digit points for the first time since 2018, as the Cardinals ended Toledo's nine-game winning streak with a 93-83 victory at Worthen Arena.
With the win, the Cardinals improved to 11-11 overall and 6-5 in Mid-American Conference play, while the Rockets fall to 18-5 overall and 10-2 in conference action.
Payton Sparks, Luke Bumbalough, Tyler Cochran, Demarius Jacobs, Miryne Thomas, and Jaylin Sellers all scored in double figures. Sparks led the way with 18 points and brought down a game-high 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season, which is second best in the MAC. He also dished out four assists.
Bumbalough finished with 17 points, while shooting 5-for-9 from 3-point range. Cochran added a 15-point performance and collected eight rebounds. Jacobs notched 15 points and blocked one shot. Thomas tallied 14 points and tied for a game-high five assists, which is a career best, to go along with eight boards. Sellers posted an 11-point performance with four rebounds and an assist.
Ryan Rollins collected a game-high 22 points for UT to go along with his five rebounds, five assists, and one steal. Setric Millner Jr. added 21 points with seven boards, two assists, and a block. JT Shumate and RayJ Dennis finished with double digits with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Ra'Heim Moss brought down a team-high nine rebounds.
The game started as a back-and-forth battle that saw three ties and two lead changes in the first few minutes. With the score tied at 11-11, the Cardinals went on a 13-2 run to claim a 24-13 lead with 12:35 left in the first stanza. Toledo was able to close the gap in the final four minutes of the period with a 15-12 run and pulled within six, 51-45, at the break.
Both sides had a strong opening half, as they shot above 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. The Cardinals saw their largest lead of 20, 37-17, with 7:48 in the first, while Toledo's biggest lead was three, 11-8, with 16:50 on the clock in the first.
The second half started much slower than the first did, as Cochran picked up a layup and drew the foul at 18:23 in the second. He converted the and-1 to put Ball State on top, 54-45. Toledo followed with an 11-2 run and tied the game at, 56-56, with just under 15 minutes left in regulation.
The Cardinals were resilient and responded with a 10-2 run to take a 66-58 lead with 11:36 left. However, UT answered with a 9-0 run and regained the lead, 67-66, with just over nine minutes left to play.
Momentum shifted back to the Cardinals after Sellers drained a 3-pointer with 8:16 left to give BSU a 69-67 lead. The 3-pointer was the start of a 15-6 run for BSU and resulted in an 81-73 lead. The Cardinals did not allow the Rockets to pull within less than four points the remainder of the game and claimed a 93-83 victory.
Ball State held the lead for 35:28 for 88.7 percent of the game, while Toledo only had the lead for 2:16 and 5.7 percent. The BSU bench outscored the UT bench 14-10. The Cardinals held a slight advantage on fast breaks, with the 15-11 edge. As a team, Ball State shot 50.8 percent from the field and 48.3 from long range.