NORTHERN ILLINOIS 58, OHIO 57
TOLEDO 96, BOWLING GREEN 56
BALL STATE 64, WESTERN MICHIGAN 63
KENT STATE 70, BUFFALO 65
AKRON 57, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 56
MIKE SMITH -- MRO
OXFORD, OH -- Strong first half shooting gave Miami a big lead and the RedHawks fought off Eastern Michigan's second half rally for a 76-63 victory Friday at Millett Hall.
With the win, Miami (14-17, 8-12 MAC) earned a seventh seed in the upcoming MAC Basketball Tournament in Cleveland. Eastern Michigan (10-21, 5-15 MAC) fell short of reaching the eight-team field. Quarterfinal play in that tourney starts Tuesday, with MU facing No. 2 seed Kent State. The Golden Flashes are riding a 12-game winning streak.
Miami's Dae Dae Grant led all scorers Friday, hitting 8 of 16 field goals while scoring 19 points. Dalonte Brown tallied 15, including a key triple with 1:54 to go. Precious Ahah and Kamari Williams 12 apiece, while guard Mekhi Lairy chipped in nine points. That starting five accounted for all but nine of MU's 76 total points.
Mo Njie, a 6-10 freshman center led Eastern Michigan with 16 points -- all in the second half -- and 10 rebounds as he keyed the Eagles second half surge. Colin Golson Jr. (15) and Kevin-David Rice (14) also reached double figures.
EMU, which defeated Miami 85-75 back in late January, stayed with the hosts early and trailed 12-11 after a Nate Scott triple at 14:54. Miami, however, then went on a 21-0 run. The RedHawks largest lead was 22 points (46-24) following a Grant jumper at 2:20.
Miami, which hit 63.3 percent from the field overall and 57.1 percent (8 of 14) outside the arc in the first stanza, enjoyed a 46-29 halftime advantage.
Things changed after intermission, with Miami slipping to 35.4 percent overall and 1 of 11 on 3-point tries. Meanwhile, the Eagles began to score on penetration and close range shots. EMU hit 54.17 from the field over the final 20 minutes.
Eastern Michigan eventually whittled its deficit down to five points following a Rice triple at 2:16. The RedHawks needed a bucket to stem the tide, and they got it from Brown. His triple from near the top of the key turned out to be the game's last field goal. EMU was unable to score just one more point, and Miami converted six straight free throws down the stretch.
DEKALB, Ill. – Trendon Hankerson and Keshawn Williams each scored 15 points as Northern Illinois outlasted Ohio, 58-57, on Friday night at the NIU Convocation Center.
NIU held Ohio to just 33.3 percent (17-of-51) shooting from the field, including 28 percent (7-of-25) from three-point range.
“I’m super proud of the guys, throughout the season, but tonight especially because when you have nothing to play for, it shows the character of these young men,” said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. “We played . . . not for ourselves but for the four seniors who sacrificed a lot to be a part of this program.
“We went out and defended the best we have defended all season against a top-two team in the league and I am super proud of these guys.”
Leading by a pair with just under six minutes to go, Hankerson knocked in a triple to give the Huskies a 50-45 lead.
After a pair of free throws by Ohio, Williams converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 4:57 remaining to help the NIU advantage grow to a half-dozen, 53-47. The Bobcats cut that lead in half with a three before Adong Makuoi finished in the paint and Anthony Crump made a free throw to push the Huskie lead back to six, 56-50, with three minutes left.
Ohio scored the next five to trim the NIU lead to just one with a little under two minutes to go before Makuoi cleaned up an offensive rebound at the rim to give the Huskies a 58-55 lead with 1:24 remaining.
The Bobcats answered with a basket on the next possession to pull within one but, after an empty possession by the Huskies, NIU got a defense stop to end the game and claim the one-point victory.
Mark Sears finished with 19 points and eight assists for Ohio, Jason Carter added 10 points.
TOLEDO, Ohio – A season-high 6,712 fans saw UT make history on Friday night in Savage Arena as Toledo (25-6, 17-3 MAC) captured back-to-back outright Mid-American Conference titles for the first time ever with a dominating 96-56 triumph over arch-rival Bowling Green. The Rockets' 25 wins are tied for second in program history with the 2018-19 squad. In addition, Toledo's 40-point victory was its largest ever over the Falcons.
"Winning back-to-back titles is a great accomplishment and I'm proud of our guys and staff," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "It was a great way to end our home season. Our fan base is awesome, and I think they really appreciated this team and how they played for each other."
All five starters scored in double-figures for the Rockets and combined to shoot an amazing 68.8 percent (33-of-48).
Junior JT Shumate paced Toledo with 22 points and finished a nearly perfect 8-of-9 from the field. Junior Setric Millner Jr. poured in 19 points, while sophomore Ryan Rollins tallied 18 points. Redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss registered his third double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Junior RayJ Dennis nearly notched a double-double as well, finishing with 12 points and a career-high nine assists.
Toledo shot 57.8% from the field and was a scorching 12-of-24 from three-point range. The Rockets dished out a season-high 25 assists and committed only eight turnovers.
The Falcons could only muster a 35.4 shooting mark en route to a season-low point total. Senior Daeqwon Plowden paced the Falcons with 19 points.
Toledo took control midway through the first half and held a 47-28 halftime lead. Bowling Green never threatened in the second half as the Rockets led by as many as 44 points.
Toledo will open the 2022 MAC Tournament vs. No. 8 seed Central Michigan on Thursday, March 10 at 11:00 a.m. in Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
First Half
• Setric Millner Jr. hit a jumper and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions to give Toledo an early 10-5 lead.
• Bowling Green rallied with a 7-2 run capped off by a Daeqwon Plowden jumper to even the contest, 12-12, at the 12:24 mark.
• RayJ Dennis' three-pointer ended a 12-2 spurt to put Toledo in front, 24-14, with just under nine minutes left in the half.
• Toledo dominated the rest of the way, burying eight of its last nine shots for a 47-28 cushion at the break.
• Toledo shot a blistering 20-of-31 (64.5%) from the field and held BG to 35.5 percent.
Millner and Ra'Heim Moss each had 12 points at the half.
Second Half
• The Rockets' hot shooting continued by going a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor to open the half with a 17-5 burst that extended their lead to 64-38.
• Toledo followed that up with a 21-4 run capped off by Keshaun Saunders' three-pointer for an 85-45 margin with 7:03 to play.
• Kooper Jacobi's layup with 2:49 remaining gave the Rockets their largest lead, 96-52, with 2:49 remaining.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Ball State ended the regular season on a high note with a 64-63 victory at Western Michigan on Friday. Jaylin Sellers had a career night to lead the Cardinals.
The Cardinal defense was stout as it held the MAC's leading scorer, Lamar Norman Jr., to just 10 points.
Sellers had a career-high 16 points with five rebounds, and one assist. Payton Sparks tallied his 11th double-double of the season behind 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Sparks tied with Luke Bumbalough for a team-high three assists. Demarius Jacobs posted a 13-point performance with eight rebounds, one block, and one assist. Miryne Thomas finished in double figures with 10 points along with a team-high four steals and one assist.
The game started as a back-and-forth battle. The first half saw 10 lead changes and five ties. The Broncos' largest lead of the half came at 13:55 with a four-point lead, 13-9. With 9:05 left in the first half the Cardinals held a 22-15 lead, their largest of the half. Both teams went on several runs and two free throws by Jacobs left the game tied at the break.
The second half was much like the first half as the teams traded blows. Western Michigan held a five-point lead, 63-58, with 3:51 left in regulation. The Cardinals were resilient and went on a 6-0 run, which led to a 64-63 victory. Ball State held Western Michigan scoreless for the final 3:51 of the game.
As a team, BSU outrebounded WMU, 36-34. Ball State also held the advantage in points in the paint, 28-24. The Cardinals finished the game shooting 42 percent from the field.
Mack Smith led WMU in scoring and tied for a game-high 16 points. Markeese Hastings picked up a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Norman was held to 10 points, despite averaging 20.1 coming into Friday's contest.
The Cardinals return to action on Thursday, March 10, for the for the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament inside the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Ball State earned the No. 6 seed and will play Ohio the No. 3 seed in the final game of day one.
KENT, Ohio – Kent State (21-9, 16-4 MAC) extended the nation's fifth-longest winning streak to 12 games with a 70-65 win over Buffalo (19-10, 13-6 MAC) on Senior Night in the MAC Center.
The Golden Flashes sent three seniors, Andrew Garcia, Tervell Beck and Justyn Hamilton out with a victory on Friday night and locked up a No. 2 seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament next Thursday, March 10.
Giovanni Santiago was electric in the first half, drilling four three-pointers and pushing the Flashes out to an early 27-15 lead. He sparked KSU to 10 three-pointers on the evening.
Kent State led by eight at the break and Sincere Carry sparked the team with seven quick points in the first four minutes of the second half. The teams traded buckets over the second half until a 9-0 Buffalo run brought the Bulls within one, 62-61, with just under four minutes remaining.
Carry drilled a step back jumper to push the Flashes' lead to four with just over two minutes to play. With 45 seconds remaining, Kent State led 66-63 and Carry fired a three-pointer which came up short of everything. However, Malique Jacobs was there and swerved around two Buffalo defenders to tip in the missed shot.
The Flashes clung to the lead down the stretch and picked up a five-point win in their last regular season game of the season.
Kent State beat Buffalo at their own game with a 25-13 advantage in second-chance points. The Flashes also dominated the offensive glass, outrebounding the Bulls 17-10.
Jeenathan Williams topped UB with 18 points. Ronaldo Segu contributed 14 points and LaQuill Hardnett added 12.
AKRON,Ohio – Down six points with just over two minutes remaining, the Akron Zips didn't blink and scored 12 of the game's final 17 points to claim a 57-56 win over Central Michigan in their regular-season finale at James A. Rhodes Arena on Friday.
Sophomore guard Greg Tribble tallied the winning points on a pair of free throws with 32 seconds remaining after a key steal by sophomore forward Ali Ali with 48 seconds remaining set up Tribble's heroics.
A pair of missed foul shots with 10 seconds left on the clock gave the Chippewas one final shot, but CMU freshman guard Kevin Miller missed a layup and Zips' junior point guard Xavier Castaneda snared the rebound to close out the victory.
Castaneda led the Zips (21-9, 14-6 MAC) with 17 points and seven rebounds and Ali added 12 in the win.
It was a game played at a slow, defense-first pace as both sides dug in and forced one another to work for every shot.
Akron trailed for much of the evening, but overcame a three-point halftime deficit thanks to key turnovers it converted into points on the other end.
For the night, the Zips caused 12 turnovers while committing just seven of their own. Every possession was key on a night where they shot just 38.6 percent and 59.1 percent from the foul line.
They also battled their way to a 29-28 rebounding edge and allowed Central Michigan (7-22, 6-12 MAC) to grab just four offensive rebounds.
Senior forward Harrison Henderson led the Chippewas with 17 points in defeat and senior forward Ralph Bissainthe contributed 14 in the loss.
With the win, Akron secured the fourth seed in the upcoming 2022 Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Zips are slated to play the fifth-seeded Buffalo Bulls on Thursday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, approximately 1:30 p.m.
Central Michigan will tangle with No. 1 seeded Toledo in Thursday's tourney opener.