BALL STATE 91, BOWLING GREEN 82
BUFFALO 87, WESTERN MICHIGAN 73
AKRON 67, EASTERN MICHIGAN 48
TOLEDO 68, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 66
MIKE SMITH/MRO
DeKALB, IL -- Battling for a crucial win while trying to secure a spot among the eight MAC teams heading to the upcoming conference tournament, the Miami RedHawks (12-14, 6-9 MAC) hit a series of key free throws down the stretch to edge Northern Illinois 78-75 Saturday at the NIU Convocation Center.
The Huskies (8-17, 5-10 MAC) were coming off victories over Ball State and Akron. They could have moved into a virtual tie with MU with a victory against the RedHawks. Northern Illinois held a 38-37 halftime lead and traded leads with the visitors through much of a close second half.
Adong Makuoi moved NIU in front one last time (75-74) on a basket with 23 seconds left. However, he missed an "and-one" opportunity at the line and Dae Dae Grant hit two free throws at the other end to put the RedHawks back in front -- 76-75 -- with eight ticks remaining.
Trendon Hankerson missed a 3-point shot four seconds later, and Precious Ayah grabbed the carom for Miami. His two free throws finished scoring and sealed Miami's third win over the last four games.
Northern Illinois owned one more field goal overall, but made three less treys (8-5) and went 12 of 20 from the free throw line. Miami connected on 14 of 16 from the stripe, including 11 of 12 after intermission.
Both teams shot well from the field overall. Miami hit 51.9 percent, while the hosts made 50.9 percent. The Huskies had two less turnovers (14-12) and four more points off turnovers (17-13).
Grant led Miami with 19 points. Brown registered 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Ayah added 12 points.
Five Huskies reached double figures, led by Makuoi's 14 points. Keshawn Williams and Hankerson contributed 13 apiece, while Chinedu Kingsley-Okanu and Darweshi Hunter added 10 each.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – For the third time this season, Ball State finished a game with five players in double-digit points. The Cardinals (12-14, 7-8 MAC) knocked off the Bowling Green Falcons (12-15, 5-11 MAC) on Saturday in the Stroh Center, 91-82.
Miryne Thomas produced a game-high 18 points to go along with his game-high two blocks, three rebounds, and two assists. Tyler Cochran recorded 16 points with a game-high seven steals, which is a new career best, six rebounds and four assists. Payton Sparks tallied his ninth double-double behind 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Mickey Pearson Jr. compiled a career-high 13 points with five rebounds, one steal, and one block. Luke Bumbalough finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and one assist.
Samari Curtis led the Falcons and tied for a game-high 18 points. Curtis also dished out a game-high six assists. Matiss Kulackovskis and Daeqwon Plowden ended the game with 17 points each. Cam Young closed out the double-digit scoring with 10. Trey Diggs led BGSU with seven rebounds.
The game started as a back-and-forth battle that saw a tie game with just 8:35 left in the first half. During the opening stretch, neither team saw more than a three-point lead. With the score tied at 22-22, the Falcons went on a 10-2 run and gained a 32-24 lead. BSU was unfazed by the run and responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 32-32. The two sides continued to battle until the half, which saw Ball State hold a 46-44 lead.
Bowling Green came out of the break swinging and started the second stanza on an 8-3 run to gain a 52-49 lead early in the stanza. Like most of the game, however, the second half continued to be a slugfest.
BGSU held an 80-79 lead with just under three minutes left in regulation. A layup by Cochran, followed by a 3-pointer by Bumbalough caused a shift in the momentum in favor of the Cardinals. Ball State ended the game on a 12-2 run to secure a 91-82 victory.
As a team, BSU outrebounded BGSU 42-37. The Cardinal bench outscored the Falcon bench 26-24. Ball State produced 10 second-chance points, which was a slight advantage over Bowling Green's nine.
BUFFALO, NY – Buffalo overcame a 16-point first half deficit on Saturday as the Bulls defeated Western Michigan, 87-73, claiming their sixth straight win. The Bulls now improve to 16-8 on the season and 10-4 in conference play.
The Bulls couldn't get anything to fall in the opening half as Western Michigan went on a 13-0 run to take a 10-point lead. WMU went on to push that lead to 29-13 with 6:55 left in the first half before the Bulls began to fight back. A quick 7-0 run cut the deficit to single digits and UB clawed all the way back to down just three before going into the half down, 38-33.
The Bulls came out of the break on an 18-3 run as they opened up their first double-digit lead of the game. The second half was spearheaded by senior Ronaldo Segu, who had 11 points and six assists in the final 20 minutes of action.
UB continued to extend its lead as a fast break layup from Josh Mballa put the Bulls ahead 77-57 with 5:59 left. The 20-point advantage was Buffalo's largest of the game. The Broncos had one last push in them as they cut the Buffalo deficit to nine with 2:44 left, but those were WMU's final points of the night as the Bulls closed the game out on a 5-0 run.
The Bulls placed four in double figures led by 24 points from Jeenathan Williams, who added four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Mballa had 20 points and nine rebounds, while Segu finished with 16 points and six dimes. Sophomore David Skogman had 11 points.
Lamar Norman Jr. paced Western Michigan with 23 points. Mileek McMillan provided 12 points and Markeese Hastings netted 11.
Buffalo had had just eight turnovers for the game, including a stretch of just over 23 minutes where the Bulls did not turn it over at all.
UB again held an advantage on the glass, outrebounding them 38-27.
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Ypsilanti, Mich – The Akron Zips snapped a three-game setback streak on Saturday afternoon, defeating Eastern Michigan 67-48 behind double-digit performances from sophomore Ali Ali , junior Xavier Castaneda and sophomore Enrique Freeman at the EMU Convocation Center.
Ali scored a team-high 17 points with nine points coming in the second half, while Castaneda and Freeman collected 15 points each. Freeman grabbed eight rebounds and Castaneda secured seven. Junior Michael Wynn added a season-high nine points.
Akron led wire to wire as the Zips (17-9, 10-6 MAC) opened the game with a 7-0 run and extended the lead to as many as 15 points before the first half ended. Castaneda contributed 11 points in the opening stanza on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor, including a 3-of-5 effort from deep and five rebounds. Freeman followed with 10 points and four rebounds to go along with two blocked shots and was responsible for a tip-in at the end of the half that gave the Zips the largest lead before the break, 39-24.
The Zips defensive efforts limited EMU to shoot just 10-of-30 in the initial 20 minutes. Eagles also struggled from deep, connecting on three triples on 15 attempts. Akron went 15-of-27 (.556) from the floor, 4-of-8 (.500) from deep and 5-of-6 (.833) from the free throw line.
In the second half, Akron's lead never dipped below double-digits and Akron used it's best scoring run (nine points) to push the lead to a 19-point advantage by the mid-point. The Zips close-out the game with the same point differential.
Noah Farrakhan led the Eagles (9-18, 4-12 MAC) with a game-high 21 points. The Zips' defense did not allow any other EMU player to score more than six points, limiting the home team to shooting just 20-of-56 (.357) from the field and 4-of-22 (.182) from deep.
Akron won the battle in the paint 28-20 and outrebounded EMU 36-30.
TOLEDO, Ohio – Junior JT Shumate tied his season high with 29 points to help Toledo (21-6, 13-3 MAC) move back into first place in the Mid-American Conference on Saturday night with a 68-66 home victory over Central Michigan. The Rockets are now tied for the top spot in the league with Ohio (22-5, 13-3 MAC) and one game in front of Kent State (17-9, 12-4 MAC).
"We didn't shoot the ball well tonight and we found a way to grind out a victory," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said after the Rockets won for the ninth time in last 11 games vs. the Chippewas (6-18, 5-8 MAC). "We moved the ball extremely well and had 20 assists even though we didn't make the shots we're capable of. We couldn't gain any separation tonight, and they controlled the tempo tonight by playing zone. We're in first place in the MAC in late February which is where we want to be."
Shumate finished 10-of-16 from the field and tied his career high with five three-point field goals in seven attempts. He also hit a free throw with 4.6 seconds remaining to give Toledo a 68-66 lead before the Chippewas were unable to get a shot off at the buzzer.
Shumate was joined in double figures by junior Setric Millner, Jr. (12 pts.), junior RayJ Dennis (10 pts.) and redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss (10 pts.).
Graduate transfer Cameron Healy topped Central Michigan with 18 points.
Millner, Jr. and Moss each dished out a team-high five assists to help the Rockets collect 20 as a team with just nine turnovers.
Toledo shot 44.1 percent from the field and limited the Chippewas to a 39.7 shooting mark.
FIRST HALF
An 11-2 Central Michigan run put Toledo down 18-9 just under nine minutes into the contest.
The Rockets got hot and went on an 18-2 run to take a 27-20 lead at the 6:05 mark. JT Shumate keyed the outburst with 10 of his 15 first-half points.
The Chippewas responded by outscoring the Rockets, 11-2, the rest of the half to take a 31-29 advantage to the locker room.
Toledo shot just 33.3 percent in the opening 20 minutes, while CMU registered a 39.3 FG%.
SECOND HALF
The Rockets regained their lead with a 7-0 run early in the second half for a 39-35 edge at the 16:23 mark.
The Chippewas rallied to move back in front, 43-42 on Ralph Bissainthe's layup with 13:45 to play.
Neither team led by more than three points until Ra'Heim Moss buried a trey for a 61-57 cushion with 6:13 left.
The Rockets then extended their advantage to 67-61 on a Shumate dunk with 59 seconds remaining, but CMU's Kevin Miller knocked down a corner trey and Cameron Healy hit a jumper to cut Toledo's lead to 67-66 with 8.5 seconds to play.
Shumate made one of two free throws with 4.6 seconds left for a 68-66 advantage, but CMU wasn't able to get a shot off before the final buzzer.
Toledo shot 55.2 percent in the final 20 minutes.