BUFFALO 74, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 54
KENT STATE 90, EASTERN MICHIGAN 71
OHIO 77, WESTERN MICHIGAN 64
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green Falcons captured a near wire-to-wire 87-65 victory over Northern Illinois at the Stroh Center. There was just one tie over the course of the game and BGSU led for over 37 minutes of play.
The win pushes BGSU back above .500 on the season at 12-11 and raised the Falcons to 5-7 in Mid-American Conference play.
Northern Illinois fell to 6-14 overall with a 3-7 conference mark. It was the Huskies sixth loss over their last seven contests, with the lone victory coming Tuesday at Western Michigan.
Trey Diggs led the way for the Orange and Brown with 18 points, all coming from behind the arc. Joe Reece added 17 points of his own, while Daeqwon Plowden logged 13.
Keshawn Williams, who hit 12 of 13 at the line, led NIU with 20 points. Trendon Hankerson followed with 15 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The two teams traded the first few buckets, but Bowling Green utilized an 8-0 run to capture a 12-4 lead in the early stages of the first half, forcing a timeout from Northern Illinois.
BGSU steadily continued added to its lead, pushing the advantage to 14 at 24-10.
The Falcons maintained a comfortable cushion until a 14-5 run for the Huskies cut the lead down to single-digits. BGSU clung a four-point advantage, entering halftime at 35-31.
Early in the second half, Bowling Green went on an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 46-34.
The Falcons continued to apply pressure on the offensive end. When Trey Diggs hit his fourth triple of the second half the next time down, it pushed the BGSU lead to 57-44 at the media timeout and it grew to 20 points (72-52)
The Orange and Brown were able to maintain their lead the rest of the way -- leading by as much as 25 and never falling below 18 from that point on, winning 87-65.
MT. PLEASANT, MI – Buffalo snapped a two-game losing streak with an emphatic 74-54 victory at Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon. The win was Buffalo's 12th straight against the Chippewas as UB improves to 11-8 and 5-4 in MAC play.
Buffalo was in control for much of the afternoon, but it was a huge second half for the Bulls that put the game out of reach. That post intermission performance was fueled by a huge advantage on the boards as Buffalo outrebounded CMU 32-11 in the second half.
Central Michigan (5-14, 4-4 MAC) had its largest lead of the game early on as the Chippewas took an 11-6 advantage four minutes in. However, seven straight from the Bulls quickly erased that deficit. Trailing 16-13, Buffalo went on an 8-0 run and never looked back. UB led by as many as eight in the first half, taking a 34-27 lead into the break.
The Chippewas cut Buffalo's lead to just five early in the second half, but a bucket from senior Josh Mballa ignited a 10-2 UB run. The highlight during the run was a thunderous dunk from senior Maceo Jack.
UB used another run, this time a 13-3 advantage, extending the Bulls lead to 60-40 following a three-point play from senior Jeenathan Williams. Buffalo led by as many as 27 points in the second half.
The Bulls placed four players in double figures, led by 19 points from Williams, who went 6-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. He added five assists, a career-high four blocked shots, and three rebounds.
Ronaldo Segu added 11 points and five assists, while Tra'von Fagan came off the bench and matched his season-high with 11 points, adding seven rebounds.
Jack just missed out on his first career double-double as the senior had 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
Ralph Bissainthe paced the Chippewas with 19 points, followed by Kevin Miller (14) and Brian Taylor (10).
The Buffalo defense held Central Michigan to 33.9% shooting from the field and 23.8% from three point range. The 49 rebounds from the Bulls were their highest in a game since 55 against Miami (OH) in the first conference game of the year. CMU claimed 27 caroms.
KENT, Ohio – Kent State (13-9, 8-4 MAC) pulled away in the second half against Eastern Michigan (9-12, 3-7 MAC) to pick up its fourth-straight win -- 90-71 -- on Saturday afternoon in the M.A.C. Center.
It was a downpour of three-pointers from the Flashes, led by Giovanni Santiago. He recorded a season-high 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. Santiago's five threes are the second-most he has made in a single game in his career, behind only his 6-for-6 effort earlier this season against Point Park. The sharpshooting guard took over the game despite only playing 16 minutes.
The Golden Flashes connected on 12 threes and shot 48 percent from deep for the game. Six Flashes drilled at least one three, with Sincere Carry and Andrew Garcia each adding multiple treys
The Flashes used their third 50-point half in their last three games during the second period to run away with the victory. After trailing by four at the break, Kent State dominated period number two while exploding for 55 second-half points.
Malique Jacobs continued to stuff the stat sheet, scoring 13 points while adding a team-high six assists and four rebounds. Jacobs, along with Garcia (13) and Carry (12) each scored in double figures.
The bench was the highlight of the Flashes on Saturday, as they scored more than half of the team's points. Santiago wasn't the only bench player putting up numbers; Justyn Hamilton (8) and Jalen Sullinger (7) both contributed as well.
Kent State had one of its best offensive games of the season, shooting 56 percent from the field and 48 percent from deep. It was second time the Flashes scored 90 or more points in the last three games.
Darion Spottsville led Eastern Michigan, connecting on 7 of 10, including all four 3-point attempts, on the way to 20 points. Noah Farrakhan tallied 16, while Nate Scott contributed 11 points with seven rebounds.
ATHENS, Ohio – Led by a career-high 27 points from redshirt fifth year forward Jason Carter, the Ohio Bobcats(19-3, 10-1 MAC) defeated Western Michigan (4-19, 0-12 MAC), 77-64, Saturday afternoon inside the Convocation Center.
The Bobcats' 19-3 record sets the mark for their best start through 22 games in program history. Ohio's 10-1 mark in conference play also moved the Bobcats into first place in the MAC.
Overall, Ohio shot 49 percent from the field, 26 percent from three and 50 percent from the line, while WMU shot 45 percent from the field, 41 percent from three and 69 percent from the line. Ohio outrebounded the Broncos, 36-28, while Ohio dished out 14 assists to their eight. The Bobcats also forced 16 WMU turnovers and scored 24 points off them.
Individually, Carter scored a career-high 27 points, going 12-of-17 from the field and 2-of-4 from three. He also grabbed 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Mark Sears scored 25 points, going 10-of-18 from the field, 3-of-5 from three, while grabbing six boards and dishing out six assists. Redshirt senior forward Ben Vander Plas added a double double of his own with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
For WMU, Lamar Norman, Jr. scored 30 points, going 11-of-18 from the field and 5-of-10 from three. Mileek McMillan added 11 points, while Markeese Hastings scored 10 points and grabbed 10 boards.
After WMU took a two-point lead with 12 seconds remaining in the first stanza, Sears drained a three at the buzzer, giving Ohio a 40-39 lead going into halftime.
At the half, Ohio shot 57 percent from the field, 36 percent from three and were 1-of-5 from the line. Meanwhile, WMU shot 58 percent from the field, 43 percent from three and were 5-of-6 from the line. Ohio outrebounded WMU, 14-12, while Ohio dished out 10 assists to the Broncos' four.
Western Michigan opened the second half by taking a three-point lead. Carter then went on a 10-2 run of his own to put the Bobcats back up on top, giving Ohio a 52-46 lead with 15:27 left in the game.
After WMU cut the lead to four, a dunk from Carter and four-straight points from Sears put Ohio up 10 with 13:35 remaining in the half. After a WMU three to cut the lead to six, back-to-back layups from junior forward Ben Roderick and Vander Plas gave the Bobcats a 64-54 lead with 10:29 left in the game.
Out of the timeout, two more points from Carter helped the Bobcats go up 13, before a jumper from WMU cut the Ohio lead to 11 with 7:37 remaining.
The Bobcats offense continued to push WMU's defense, with layups from Carter and Sears increasing the Ohio lead to 15 going into the final media timeout. WMU was able to cut the lead to nine. However, a final three from Sears sealed the deal and secured Ohio's 77-64 victory.