AKRON 69, EVANSVILLE 60
SOUTHERN UTAH 87, BOWLING GREEN 73
EASTERN MICHIGAN 72, WESTERN ILLINOIS 68
BUFFALO 106, ILLINOIS STATE 90
TOLEDO 79, COASTAL CAROLINA 70
EASTERN TENNESSEE STATE 57, KENT STATE 51
Estero, Fla. – Akron sophomore Ali Ali scored 20 points to lead the Zips to a 69-60 win over Evansville on the final day of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena on Wednesday.
Ali shot 6-of-8 from the floor and buried all four of his 3-point field goal attempts before the first half expired. Xavier Castaneda followed in scoring with 11 points, while Enrique Freeman and Greg Tribble added 10 points apiece. Freeman notched his fourth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds and averaged a double-double for the tournament, scoring 11.3 points and grabbing 10.3 rebounds per game.
Bryan Trimble, Jr. got things going for Akron, knocking down his first three shot attempts, all from downtown. The Zips opened the game with an 11-8 advantage by the 15:07 mark and despite not scoring still held the lead at the midway point of the first half, 11-10.
The hot hand continued for Akron as Ali nailed four straight shots, including three from long range. With 7:15 left to play in the first half, the Zips were 6-of-7 (.857) from Deep and 8-of-11 (.727) from the floor en route to a 28-20 advantage. Akron closed the half on a 5-0 run as Castaneda buried a corner 3-ball and Freeman added paint points. The Zips led 33-20 at the break. Akron shot 57.1 percent from the floor (12-of-21), including a sizzling 72.7 percent, 8-of-11 from downtown. Rebounds were tied 17-all.
Evansville outscored the Zips 12-2 to open the half, cutting the Zips lead to 37-32 with 13:14 showing on the clock. Akron scored on back-to-back possessions and eventually pushed the lead back to 10 points, 49-39, as Dawson hit a three at the top of the key with 8:15 left to play in the game. The Zips maintained the double-digit lead until the 3-minute mark, but held on for the win.
Evansville was led by Jawaun Newton's double-double performance of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Antoine Smith, Jr. and Shamar Givance added 16 and 12 points in the loss, respectively.
Akron finished the game shooting 48.8 percent from the floor (21-of-43) and 66.7 percent from long distance (10-of-15) while edging the Aces on the glass 32-31.
Akron is scheduled to host Marshall on Wednesday, Dec. 1 at James A. Rhodes Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m
SOUTHERN UTAH 87, BOWLING GREEN 73
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Bowling Green played a close first half with Southern Utah in the Palms Division Championship at the Fort Myers Tip-Off. The Thunderbirds used a strong start to the second half to create a lead that turned into an 87-73 win for Southern Utah. The loss moves the Falcons to 2-4 on the season before they return home to the Stroh Center on Sunday (Nov. 28) to face Chicago State.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Falcons came out firing to start the game. Daeqwon Plowden and Trey Diggs both hit from deep followed by a pair of free throws from Myron Gordon to grant BGSU an 8-3 lead and force a quick Southern Utah timeout.
The Thunderbirds closed the gap and were able to take a 13-12 lead, beginning a back-and-forth trend on the scoreboard.
Bowling Green was able to build a five-point lead with a 6-0 run later in the half, but Southern Utah once again closed the gap, taking a 35-34 lead.
The Thunderbirds created a six-point lead at 42-36, but a Kaden Metheny layup before the buzzer sent the teams to halftime with the score at 42-38 Southern Utah.
The start of the second half saw Southern Utah create a 16-point lead at 63-47.
The two teams would trade buckets for most of the game from that point on, seeing the Thunderbirds win, 87-73.
BGSU STAT LEADERS
Daeqwon Plowden: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
Josiah Fulcher: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Trey Diggs: 9 points, 4 rebounds
Kaden Metheny: 8 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
EASTERN MICHIGAN 72, WESTERN ILLINOIS 68
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Eastern Michigan bested Western Illinois University in dramatic fashion with a 72-68 victory to earn its second win of the season Wednesday inside the Convocation Center. Monty Scott led EMU with 16 points, six rebounds, and tied a team-high with three assists.
The Eagles (2-3, 0-0 MAC) were helped by 22 points of the bench, including 12 from junior guard Bryce McBride. In addition to McBride, two other members of the Green and White scored in double digits, led by senior Monty Scott with 16 points, while freshman Noah Farrakhan dropped 14.
On the defensive end, senior Nate Scott paced the team with seven boards to go along with one block and one steal. Senior captain Darion Spottsville was a workhorse for the Eagles, wrangling in five rebounds and two steals, including the huge swipe with 16 seconds left to help seal the deal. Additionally, the guard scored nine points, dropped two dimes, and drew six fouls.
How It Happened
The first half was tight, with neither team owning more than a three-point advantage. Both defenses came to play as the Eagles shot just 35.48% (11-of-31) in the stanza and limited the Leathernecks to 23.53% (8-for-34). However, WIU held a 27-25 advantage going into the break, thanks to shooting 9-for-12 (75%) from the line compared to EMU's 1-6 (16.67%).
Eastern Michigan got its shot back, bringing the score to within one, 39-38, before going on a 6-0 run to seize a 44-39 lead with 12:45 to go in the contest. The Eagles then jumped out to an eight-point lead, 52-44, sparked by a monster dunk from freshman Colin Golson Jr. Western climbed back to even the game at 62-all with 4:19 left on the clock. The two teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the game until McBride hit four huge free throws in the final 28 seconds to seal the deal at 72-68.
BUFFALO 106, ILLINOIS STATE 90
CANCUN, MEXICO – Buffalo scored the most points in Cancun Challenge history on Wednesday night as the Bulls defeated Illinois State, 106-90. The win improves UB to 3-2 on the season.
The Bulls were clicking on all cylinders as UB shot 52.6% from the floor, including 62.9% in the second half, hitting 8-of-10 three pointers in the process. Illinois State led just once, scoring the first three points of the game, but the Bulls took over, riding the hot hand of sophomore David Skogman, who scored 15 of his career high 17 points in the first half.
Skogman scored eight of UB's first 15 points as the Bulls built a 15-6 lead just four minutes in. Buffalo extended its lead to 23-11 as senior Ronaldo Segu drained a three-pointer with 12:50 left. Illinois State made one run as they cut a 13-point Buffalo lead down to three, but UB responded right away with 10 straight points of their own, capped off on a dunk by senior Jeenathan Williams. UB extended its advantage to 40-34 at the break.
Josh Mballa, who finished the first half strong, dominated in the second half as he finished with a career high 29 points. A three-pointer from the Bordeaux, France native put the Bulls ahead 62-42. The two teams then traded baskets back and forth, but seven straight points from senior Keishawn Brewton gave the Bulls their largest lead of the night at 78-55 with 10:58 left.
Illinois State never got any closer than within 13 for the remainder of the night as the Bulls were able to cruise to victory.
Mballa led all scorers with 29 points, to go along with eight rebounds. Three players finished with 17 points, including Skogman, who went 6-of-7 from the floor.
Segu added 17 points and a season-high eight assists, while turning it over just once. Senior Jeenathan Williams also finished with 17 points as he moved into 21st place on UB's all-time scoring list.
Brewton finished with 10 points and four assists, while Maceo Jack and Lucas Saleh each had five points. Freshman Curtis Jones scored the first three points of his career, while adding three assists and five boards. Senior Tra'von Fagan had three points as well.
The Bulls held a 41-30 advantage on the glass and after recording 20 turnovers yesterday, Buffalo had 22 assists on Wednesday, while turning it over just nine time.
UB returns home on Monday evening when the Bulls host Point Park at Alumni Arena.
TOLEDO 79, COASTAL CAROLINA 70
NASSAU, Bahamas – Toledo rallied from a 19-point first-half deficit and sophomore Ryan Rollins erupted for a career-high 35 points to propel the Rockets (5-1) to a 79-70 victory over Coastal Carolina (2-2) on Wednesday night in the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship Game.
"We have a very resilient group and tonight's victory really showed that," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "A game like this will show us that we can come back when we have a really bad start. We took a deep breath, didn't get rattled, and we stayed positive and together. We wanted to simulate what the MAC Tournament would be like, and that's what playing this tournament the last three days did for us."
Rollins received Tournament MVP honors after going 12-of-20 from the field, a career-best 4-of-5 from three-point range and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed four rebounds and collected a team-high three steals in 34 minutes.
"I was feeling good tonight," Rollins said. "I was getting to my spots and hitting my shots. We were persistent when we fell behind and kept fighting. We knew when we got the momentum back that we had a really good chance at winning."
Junior Setric Millner Jr. also received all-tournament team honors after tallying 15 points. Junior JT Shumate was the only other Rocket to score in double digits. Junior RayJ Dennis played a strong floor game with eight points, a team-best six rebounds and a season-high six assists. Redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss also grabbed a team-high six rebounds to go aloing with six points.
The Rockets fell behind 26-7 just over midway through the first half but ended the opening stanza with an 18-5 spurt to go into the locker room tied at 34-apiece. A 15-0 run down the stretch gave Toledo a 76-63 cushion with 47 seconds remaining.
Toledo returns to action on Monday, Nov. 29 when it hosts NAIA foe Northwestern Ohio in Savage Arena at 7:00 p.m.
EASTERN TENNESSEE STATE 57, KENT STATE 51
NAPLES, Fla. – Kent State (3-2) fell in the Naples Invitational final to East Tennessee State (4-2) on Wednesday evening by a score of 57-51.
The Golden Flashes struggled offensively in the first half, scoring just 20 points over the first 20 minutes. Sincere Carry had half of the Flashes' points at the break as the Flashes trailed by nine, 29-20.
ETSU began the second half on fire, extending the lead to as many as 19 points. The Flashes refused to back down from the Bucs though, scratching and clawing their way back into the game.
A 9-0 Flashes' run brought them back to within four points, 48-44, late in the second half. Kent State inched even closer within two points, 53-51, but the Flashes simply ran out of time and ETSU held on for the win.
Carry led the way for the Flashes, scoring a season-high 21 points and earning a spot on the all-tournament team. It was his second straight 20+ point effort. He also added nine rebounds and four assists. Malique Jacobs recorded his first double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Neither team shot the ball well from beyond the arc and both teams turned the ball over often. ETSU held the advantage in rebounds (38-28) and second chance points (14-8).
ETSU's David Sloan scored 12 points, grabbed four rebounds and added three assists on the way to being named the Naples Invitational Tournament MVP. He and teammate Ledarrius Brewer were both named to the all-tournament team.