CENTRAL MICHIGAN 89, BALL STATE 85 (OT)
TOLEDO 77, OHIO 62
KENT STATE 76, BOWLING GREEN 68
BUFFALO 102, EASTERN MICHIGAN 64
MU STAFF REPORT
OXFORD, OH -- The Miami RedHawks (10-13, 4-8 MAC) ended a five-game losing streak by handing Western Michigan (4-20, 0-13 MAC) its 14th straight loss, 62-57, Tuesday at Millett Hall.
While the Broncos have been flirting with a breakthrough win, they faltered in the second stanza as the hosts rallied from a 30-24 halftime deficit for the win. Dae Dae Grant Miami with a game-high 25 points. Nearly half of that came at the free throw line as the junior guard hit 10 of 11 free throws on the night.
As a team, MU went 2 of 2 from the stripe before intermission. However, the RedHawks cashed in on 17 of 22 charity tosses in the second half. Western Michigan made 18 of 24 free throws on the evening, with 11 of 13 attempts coming in the second half.
While Mekhi Lairy (11 points) was the only other RedHawks besides Grant in double figures, four Broncos reached double digits. Lamar Norman Jr., fresh off a 30-point performance at Ohio Saturday, paced WMU with 12 points. Mileek McMillan and Mack Smith contributed 11 apiece, while B. Artis White added 10..
Miami owned just two more field goals overall and two more treys. The RedHawks edged WMU on points off turnovers (17-13) and points off the bench (25-19).
EARLY BRONCOS LEAD
Western Michigan got the best of a slow start and led 9-2 after Adrian Martin's triple at 14:42. Miami finally managed to get its second basket of the game at 12:36 off Lairy's steal and layup.
A 10-0 RedHawks run left the RedHawks in front 24-21 following a Grant triple. However, Western Michigan countered with a 9-1 run right before intermission.
The Broncos largest lead was 44-35 at 11:16 of the second half, but Marr Avance followed with a triple to get Miami going on a 15-2 burst.
Western Michigan's last lead was at 52-51 after a pair of McMillan free throws at 5:05. Precious Ayah scored at the other end, and Miami moved back in front for good, holding off WMU down the stretch.
MUNCIE, Ind. – Central Michigan outscored Ball State, 11-7, in overtime and Kevin Miller hit all six of his free throw attempts in the extra session on Tuesday as the Chippewas pulled out a dramatic 89-85 Mid-American Conference men's basketball victory at the Cardinals' Worthen Arena.
It was the fourth win in the last five games for CMU, which improved to 6-14, 5-4 MAC. Ball State is 11-5, 6-6. The Chippewas entertain MAC co-leader Ohio on Thursday (7 p.m.) at McGuirk Arena.
CMU's Ralph Bissainthe and Nicolas Pavrette fouled out in the final four minutes of regulation and another big man, Harrison Henderson, played the final 14-plus minutes of game time with four fouls.
Add to that CMU 3-point shooting specialist Cameron Healy, who took a shot to the nose that left him looking like a battered and bruised boxer who had just gone 12 rounds.
But he, and his teammates, had their hand raised when it was all said and done.
"Where do you start?" said first-year CMU coach Tony Barbee, who has continually preached toughness to his players. "I can go down the line, to a man, no matter how many minutes (they played), everybody scratched, clawed and fought."
Healy hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime tied at 78.
Healy then scored on a tough drive to open overtime and put CMU up, 80-78, and the Chippewas never trailed again. They twice extended their lead to six points in the extra session and Miller salted it away at the free throw line.
With CMU leading 88-85, Henderson hit a free throw with 5 seconds left to ice it. The Chippewas made nine of their 11 charity tosses in the extra session and finished 19-for-26 on the night.
The Chippewas' 89 points were a season high and their 14 3-pointers – Healy had seven – were also their season best. The game featured eight ties and nine lead changes.
Four of the Chippewas' six wins have come on the road in white-knuckling fashion, where they made the big plays when they had to at crunch time.
TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo moved back into first place in the Mid-American Conference with a convincing 77-62 victory over second-place Ohio before a season-high crowd of 5,881 at Savage Arena on Tuesday night. It was the Rockets' second double-digit win of the season over the Bobcats (19-4, 10-2 MAC) and improved Toledo's record to 19-5 overall and 11-2 in league play.
"Tonight was a really good win in front of a great home atmosphere," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said after the Rockets posted their 26th win in their last 27 home games. "I have a lot of respect for Ohio and how good they are. I thought our defense played a big role tonight with the way we defended from start to finish. We got some separation late in the first half and sometimes that's all it takes when two good teams are facing each other."
Sophomore Ryan Rollins nearly registered a triple-double to lead the Rockets, finishing with 15 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and eight assists. Junior Setric Millner Jr. paced Toledo offensively with 18 points, while junior JT Shumate tallied 17 points and a career-high seven blocked shots.
Tommy Schmock led the Bobcats in scoring with 17 points. Toledo held Ohio's leading scorer, Mark Sears. to 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
Toledo shot the ball well the entire contest, finishing at 56.4 percent after scorching the nets at a 61.5 clip in the first half. The Rockets also dominated the interior with a 47-26 rebounding margin and a 42-22 advantage in points in the paint.
The Rockets' aggressive defense stifled the Ohio attack as well, limiting the visitors to a 32.8 shooting mark and blocking nine Bobcat shots.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
The Rockets scored the game's five points, but the Bobcats responded with the next eight take an 8-5 lead.
Toledo went on an 18-4 run midway through the half, capped off by a Ra'Heim Moss layup for a 36-22 Rockets' lead, its largest of the half, with 3:07 remaining.
A Ryan Rollins jumper with eight seconds left sent Toledo to the locker room with a 38-27 lead.
RayJ Dennis and Rollins were both 4-for-4 from the floor in the opening half. As a team, the Rockets shot 16-of-26 (61.5%) from the field.
The Rockets out-rebounded Ohio, 20-12, led by Rollins' six boards.
SECOND HALF
The Bobcats opened the half with a 7-2 run to cut Toledo's margin to 40-34 with 16:36 remaining.
The Rockets answered with 10 straight points, the last four coming from Rollins to push the lead to 50-36 with 13:41 remaining.
Toledo answered a 9-3 Ohio run by scoring seven straight to take a 60-43 lead on Keshaun Saunders' floater with 9:26 left.
The Bobcats cut the Rockets' lead to 69-62 with 1:41 to play but Toledo scored eight straight points to close out its victory.
KENT, Ohio – Kent State (14-9, 9-4 MAC) knocked off Bowling Green (12-12, 5-8 MAC) 76-68 Tuesday to win its fifth-straight Mid-American Conference game overall and fourth consecutive game inside the M.A.C. Center.
The Golden Flashes have won five MAC games in a row for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
The game started off as a defensive battle with buckets tough to come by for the first 20 minutes. The first half saw a combined 24 turnovers between the two teams. Bowling Green used an 8-0 run to shrink the Flashes' lead heading into the locker room to just one point, 29-28.
The second half featured more action and more scoring. After just six first-half points for Giovanni Santiago, he scored 12 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 18 points. Sincere Carry also scored 12 second-half points to finish with 17 for the game. Carry also tallied seven rebounds and five assists. It was his 13th game this season with five or more assists.
Andrew Garcia continued to play well for the Flashes, recording his fifth consecutive game in double figures. The graduate transfer scored 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and added eight rebounds.
Kent State tightened up defensively and made some key stops down the stretch to extend the lead. They controlled the ball as well, posting only six second-half turnovers. The Flashes narrowly missed their fourth game in a row scoring 50 points in a single half, using a 47-point second half to pull away from the Falcons.
Tervell Beck scored eight points for the Flashes, while Justyn Hamilton tallied eight points and seven rebounds. Malique Jacobs scored six points, recorded a team-high nine rebounds and dished out four assists in the victory.
The Golden Flashes shot the ball well yet again, making 50 percent of their shots and tallying 12 three-pointers for the second straight game. The Flashes' bench continues to produce as well, outscoring Bowling Green's bench 37-15.
Daeqwon Plowden led the Falcons with 16 points and eight rebounds. Matis Kulachovskis registered 14 points, followed by Samari Curtis (12) and Trey Diggs (11).
BUFFALO, NY – The Buffalo Bulls went over the century mark on Tuesday as UB picked up its second straight win with a 102-64 victory over Eastern Michigan at Alumni Arena. Buffalo dished out a season-high 28 assists, while five players scored in double figures, including a UB career high for Maceo Jack with 22 points.
The Bulls shot 57.3% from the field, doing most of their damage in the paint where UB scored 64 points, led by their post triumvirate of David Skogman, Josh Mballa, and LaQuill Hardnett, who combined for 40 points, going 18-of-22 from the floor as a group.
UB led 20-17 in the first half when a three-pointer from Jeenathan Williams began a 14-4 run which was capped off on a three-point play from Jack, extending the UB lead to 34-21. The Bulls led by as many as 15 in the first half, taking a 50-35 lead into the break.
For the second straight game, the Bulls dominated the second half, this time outscoring Eastern Michigan 52-29 over the final 20 minutes, holding the Eagles to just 30% shooting. EMU would trim the Buffalo lead to 10 very early in the half, but another three from Williams began a 9-0 run, with the final six points coming from Mballa.
Building their lead back up to 68-49, the Bulls put the game out of reach as they went on a 16-3 run over a five-minute period, extending their lead to 84-52 with 8:02 left. Getting all the healthy players in uniform in the game, the Bulls would go on to lead by as many as 40 following a bucket from fifth-year senior Jamon Bivens.
Jack just missed out on the double-double again with 22 points and nine rebounds. He was 8-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point range, while adding three assists and a steal.
Williams finished with 16 points, starting the game off strong by scoring 11 points over the first 10 minutes of action. He added four rebounds and an assist. Skogman added 15 points, six boards, four assists, and two blocks. This is the second time this season that he went a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor.
Mballa added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Hardnett had 12 points off the bench. Senior Ronaldo Segu had seven points, and a game-high nine assists, putting him over 300 assists for his career. He also added five assists and two steals, while finishing with just one turnover. Keishawn Brewton scored eight points.
The Bulls finished the night with a 50-28 advantage on the glass. In addition to 28 assists, which is the most in a single game for the Bulls since at least 2010, UB had just 10 turnovers for the game.
Bryce McBride led EMU with 12 points, followed by Nate Scott and Mo Nije with 11 apiece. The Eagles hit 37.5 percent from the field overall, 20.0 percent beyond the arc and 57.9 percent (11 of 19) on free throws.