EASTERN MICHIGAN 85, WESTERN MICHIGAN 79
TOLEDO 82, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 54
KENT STATE 66, BALL STATE 65
MIAMI AT BOWLING GREEN - POSTPONED
BUFFALO AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS -- POSTPONED
AKRON, Ohio – Trailing by one with three minutes to go, redshirt senior forward Ben Vander Plas drained a three and the Ohio defense stepped up over the final two minutes of play to lead the Bobcats (11-2, 2-0 MAC) to a 69-63 road victory at Akron (8-4, 1-1 MAC) Tuesday night inside James A. Rhodes Arena.
The victory was head coach Jeff Boals' 100th career victory and the Bobcats stretched their winning streak to six games.
Overall, Ohio shot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and were 9-of-10 from the line, while Akron shot 39.3 percent from the field, 37 percent from three and were 9-of-17 from the line. Ohio outrebounded Akron, 34-33, while the Bobcats dished out 12 assists to Akron's 11, while both teams turned the ball over 10 times and recorded four steals.
Individually, sophomore guard Mark Sears led all scorers with 24 points, going 8-of-14 from the field, 2-of-4 from three and 6-of-6 from the line. Sears also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and dished out five assists in 38 minutes. Fifth year forward Jason Carter added 19 points and three rebounds, while Vander Plas contributed 11 points, six boards and four assists.
For Akron, Ali Ali scored 22 points, while Mikal Dawson added 14 points and Enrique Freeman snagged 10 boards.
Akron won the tip, but the Bobcats opened the game with the first seven points and led throughout the first stanza. A 7-0 Ohio run increased its lead to 13 with 1:09 left in the half. However, Akron hit a three at the buzzer, sending the game to halftime with Ohio leading, 33-23.
Out of the timeout, two free throws from Sears and a three from junior forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) gave
The Bobcats continued to lead and built a 53-39 edge, forcing Akron to burn a timeout. Out of the timeout, Akron went on a 7-0 run to cut the Ohio lead to 53-46. However, after an and-one opportunity for Sears, Akron head coach John Groce was assessed a technical foul, allowing Sears to drain three from the line to give Ohio a 58-46 lead. However, Akron countered with a layup, cutting the Ohio lead to 10 with 7:45 left in the game.
Out of the timeout, Akron went on a 14-2 run, aided by four free throws, a technical assessed to Boals and a three pointer to tie the game at 60-60 with 4:41 left in the game. Akron took its first lead of the game on a free throw with 3:02 left, however, Vander Plas countered with his first three of the game to put Ohio up 63-61 with 2:32 left in the game.
After Akron tied the game at 63-63, back-to-back driving layups from Sears and Roderick and a thundering dunk from Carter sealed the 69-63 victory for the Bobcats on the road.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Eastern Michigan got a 27-point showing from the bench on the way to an 85-79 win over Western Michigan Tuesday.
The Eagles (6-6,1-0 MAC) had four players score in double figures, led by freshman Noah Farrakhan, who had 25 points and three steals. Junior Bryce McBride tacked on 18 points from the bench and Senior Thomas Binelli helped out with 11 points.
Eastern Michigan forced 18 Western Michigan turnovers in the game. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 24 points on the offensive end of the floor. Farrakhan's three steals led the way for Eastern Michigan.
Lamar Norman Jr. led all scorers with 34 points, hitting 14 of 25 shots from the field. Cameron Kimble (10 points) was the only other Bronco with double figure scoring, however, Titus Wright grabbed 11 rebounds to go with eight points.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 15-12 advantage, Eastern Michigan went on an 8-0 run with 11:35 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Binelli, to increase its lead to 23-12. The Eagles then added six points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 47-30 advantage. Eastern Michigan capitalized on nine Western Michigan turnovers in the period, turning them into 16 points on the other end of the floor.
Eastern Michigan kept its lead intact before going on a 5-0 run, finished off by McBride's three, to grow the lead to 62-44 with 14:28 to go in the contest. The Broncos narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 85-79 win. Eastern Michigan got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 15 of its 38 total points.
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. – Sophomore Ryan Rollins scored 21 points to lead four Rockets in double figures as Toledo (10-4, 2-1 MAC) rolled to an 82-54 Mid-American Conference road win over Central Michigan on Tuesday evening in McGuirk Arena.
Redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss tallied a season-high 13 points and three steals to join Rollins in double digits. Juniors JT Shumate and RayJ Dennis added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Freshman Kevin Miller topped the Chippewas (2-11, 1-1 MAC) with 14 points and four assists.
Toledo controlled the boards by registering a 44-34 advantage on the glass. Junior Setric Millner Jr. led the way with eight rebounds, while Dennis, freshman Kooper Jacobi and Shumate each grabbed six boards.
The Rockets continued to excel on the defensive end, limiting the hosts to a 33.3 field-goal percentage. It is the fourth straight contest Toledo has held its opponent to a 33.3 shooting mark or lower.
Kevin Miller topped CMU with 14 points, followed by Harrison Henderson (13) and Brian Taylor (9).
FIRST HALF
The Rockets and Chippewas started strong on the offensive end with the game tied at 11-11 at the first media timeout.
Toledo started to take control by taking a 22-13 lead thanks to a 9-2 run that Ryan Rollins capped off with a dunk with 11 minutes left in the first half.
A 7-0 Chippewa spurt reduced the Rockets' lead to two but Rollins scored six straight points to ignite a 15-2 burst that put Toledo in front 42-27 just before halftime.
Harrison Henderson's layup right before the buzzer cut the Rockets' lead at intermission to 44-33.
SECOND HALF
CMU carried that momentum into the second stanza and closed to within 48-43 less than five minutes into the second half.
Keshaun Saunders ended that spurt with a three-pointer, and Kooper Jacobi and RayJ Dennis followed with baskets for a 55-43 cushion that forced CMU to take a timeout with 13:52 remaining.
Toledo's lead didn't dip below double digits the rest of the way.
The Rockets eliminated any hopes of a Chippewa rally with a 10-0 spurt for a 70-48 margin with four minutes left
MUNCIE, Ind. – Kent State (7-6, 2-1 MAC) won a thriller in Muncie Tuesday night over Ball State (6-7, 1-1 MAC) after Justyn Hamilton tipped in the game-winning layup with less than 10 seconds to play.
The Flashes picked up their second-straight Mid-American Conference win, 66-65, in a hard-fought game. Sincere Carry led the Flashes with a season-high 26 points on 10-for-19 from the field. Carry also added seven rebounds and seven assists to go along with three steals.
The Golden Flashes and Cardinals battled back-and-forth all night with the largest lead of the game being a four-point Ball State lead late in the first half. The game featured 16 lead changes, and the game was tied 14 times.
The Flashes only led for a total of five minutes, but they made those minutes count down the stretch. They led just three times in the second half prior to the Hamilton game-winner. One of those was on a Carry layup with 33 seconds left that put the Flashes up 64-62. Tyler Cochran – Ball State's leading scorer – answered with an and-one layup and free throw to put the Cardinals in front by one with just 24 seconds on the clock.
With one shot at the win, the ball went to Carry's hands. He drove and drew two defenders, but the layup glided off the rim. Hamilton got the tip to go and the Flashes thwarted the Cardinals' final attempt to pull out the victory.
Along with Carry, Hamilton and Malique Jacobs each scored in double figures. Hamilton finished with a team-high eight rebounds. The Flashes dominated the paint, outscoring Ball State 38-20. The Flashes shot just 16.7 percent from three but made enough plays in the end to win the game.
Carry recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season and his seventh game with at least five assists. In addition to the offensive numbers, Carry held one of the best scorers in the MAC, Luke Bumbalough to just three points on 1-for-9 from the field including 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Ball State was led by Tyler Cochran's 23 points with nine caroms. Demarius Jacobs netted 16, while Payton Sparks contributed 12 points and nine rebounds.