NORTHERN ILLINOIS 77, EASTERN MICHIGAN 70
TOLEDO 91, BOWLING GREEN 78
MRO STAFF REPORT
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A turnover-less second half paved the way for Miami's second half comeback as the RedHawks downed Western Michigan 70-62 Saturday at University Arena.
All eight MU turnovers came in the first stanza, when the Broncos outscored Miami 12-2 in points off turnovers. That allowed Western Michigan (4-12, 0-5 MAC) to reach intermission with a micro-thin 33-32 edge. However, Delonte Brown hit a three when play resumed and Precious Ayah capped a 10-1 RedHawk run to give MU a 42-34 lead at 18:01.
Miami remained in front the rest of the way. Lamar Norman Jr., who scored a game high 26 points and hit 6 of 11 3-point tries, pulled WMU within three (60-63) with 2:22 remaining when he drained a long step-back three. Brown answered that at the other end, sinking his own triple. Four straight Miami free throws then built the lead up to 10 before a late Bronco layup closed scoring.
Brown and Mekhi Lairy led a balanced Miami attack with 15 pints apiece. Ayah registered 12 points, with eight coming during the RedHawks second half surge. Isaiah Coleman-Lands added 11, while Dae Dae Grant was limited to nine points in 27 minutes while dealing with foul issues.
Miami connected on 46.3 percent (25 of 54) from the field overall, but was just 5 of 21 (23.8%) on threes. It helped its cause at the line, going a perfect 15 of 15 on free throws.
Western Michigan made 23 of 60 (38.3%) shot overall and went 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) on treys. Norman owned six of the long distance makes. Center Titus Wright, meanwhile, hit five of six shots on the way to 11 points, while Mileek McMillan chipped in nine points.
WMU's loss was its sixth straight loss and eighth over its last nine outings. Miami's victory, meanwhile, broke a two game losing streak -- both games over last week. Three early January games were postponed due to Covid issues.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 77, EASTRN MICHIGAN 70
DEKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois used a 9-2 run over the final 2:11 to claim a 77-70 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon at the NIU Convocation Center. The Huskies led for over 30 minutes, but EMU drew even late until a strong close gave NIU its second consecutive victory.
Keshawn Williams scored a team-high 18 points and tied a team-high with five rebounds. Kaleb Thornton scored 15 points with four assists, Trendon Hankerson added 12 points and a game-high five assists, Adong Makuoi scored 11 points and Anthony Crump chipped in 10 points. It marked the first time NIU has had five double figure scorers in a game since Nov. 6, 2018, against Rockford.
NIU (5-8, 2-1 MAC) held the lead the entire second half until Noah Farrakhan split a pair of free throws with 3:20 remaining to pull Eastern Michigan even at 68.
Following an empty possession for both teams, Thornton found Crump cutting to the basket for a dunk with 2:11 left, igniting a 7-0 Huskie run. An Eastern Michigan turnover led to a foul, and a technical foul, on the Eagles and NIU made three of the four free throws. Williams then added a bucket to make it 75-68 Huskies with 1:03 left.
Eastern Michigan (7-8, 2-2 MAC) scored to cut the lead to five, but the Huskies broke the Eagles trap and Hankerson made a layup to finish off the contest.
Farrakhan scored a game-high 27 points to pace Eastern Michigan, Darion Spottsville added 11 points.
TOLEDO 91, BOWLING GREEN 78
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Junior JT Shumate erupted for a season-high 29 points and sophomore Ryan Rollins nearly registered a triple-double to lead Toledo to a convincing 91-78 victory over arch-rival Bowling Green on Saturday night in the Stroh Center. The victory moved the Rockets (13-4, 5-1 MAC) into a virtual first-place tie in the Mid-American Conference with Ohio (13-2, 4-0 MAC).
Shumate, who finished four points shy of his career high, hit 12-of-14 shots and was 4-of-4 from three-point range and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Rockets. Rollins finished with 16 points, a career-best 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Junior Setric Millner Jr. also put in a strong performance for the Rockets, tallying 20 points and five boards. Millner scored 15 of his points in final 20 minutes, including eight during a 12-3 spurt that gave Toledo a double-digit lead early in the second half.
Toledo shot 54.7 percent from the field, 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from three-point range and 11-of-11 from the free-throw line. It marked the second-straight game the Rockets were perfect after hitting all 11 shots at the charity stripe against Miami.
Bowling Green posted a 43.5 FG% and was 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) from behind the three-point arc. The Rockets limited the Falcons to a 1-of-13 clip from three-point range in the second half after the hosts knocked down 9-of-18 in the opening 20 minutes.
Trey Diggs led five Falcons in double figures with 21 points. Daequon Plowden and Myron Gordon followed with 14 apiece, while Chandler Turner added 11 points.
FIRST HALF
Toledo came out on fire and hit eight of its first nine shots leading to a 17-6 lead and forcing the Falcons to take timeout just 4:14 into the contest.
Ryan Rollins buried a triple to increase the Rockets' lead to 28-16 just over midway through the first half.
Bowling Green rallied to even the score at 41-41 on Chandler Turner's triple 3:23 before intermission.
Trey Diggs played a big part in the Falcons' comeback by hitting 7-of-8 three-point shots in the opening stanza.
Ra'Heim Moss hit two free throws 39.2 seconds before the break to give the Rockets a 48-47 halftime lead.
SECOND HALF
Setric Millner Jr. helped Toledo quickly gain back a double-digit cushion by hitting back-to-back triples and a fadeaway jumper as part of a 12-3 spurt to open the second half.
Shumate buried a trey and Millner followed with a ferocious slam to increase the Rockets' lead to 69-54 at the 12:47 mark.
Back-to-back triples from Millner and Shumate gave Toledo its largest advantage, 89-68, with 3:15 left to put the exclamation point on the victory.