~ TOLEDO 89, MIAMI 71
~ BALL STATE 87, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 77
~ CENTRAL MICHIGAN 77, BOWLING GREEN 74
~ OHIO 85, BUFFALO 61
~ KENT STATE 82, WESTERN MICHIGAN 58
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Junior forward Enrique Freeman registered his 14th double-double of the season as Akron defeated Eastern Michigan 78-51 at The George Gervin GameAbove Center on Tuesday night.
Freeman led all scorers with 22 points while grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds, while four Zips registered double-digit points. Senior Xavier Castaneda followed with 16 points, four assists and four rebounds, while freshman guard Nate Johnson posted a career-high 13 points to go along with a career-best seven boards. Graduate Trendon Hankerson rounded out the double-figure scoring with 11 points and added five rebounds as Akron won the battle of the boards 45-27.
The Zips controlled the scoreboard early thanks to an 8-0 run that included a pair of long distance jumpers from Castaneda and Hankerson while junior Sammy Hunter capped the run with an offensive rebound and put back for two of his nine total points. Freeman added six consecutive points as Akron claimed a 29-20 halftime advantage.
For the second time in as many games, the stingy Akron defense made it tough for the second-leading scorer in the Mid-American Conference as Emoni Bates (20.5 ppg) went just 1-of-7 from the floor. He was limited to six first-half points, with four coming from the charity stripe as Eastern Michigan (6-20, 3-10 MAC) went without a 3-point bucket and missed the mark eight times.
In the second half, Akron (18-8, 10-3 MAC) used a 17-4 run that lasted 4:18 and held the home team scoreless for nearly three minutes to stretch the lead to 21 points by the five-minute mark, 69-48. Akron scored 11 points off turnovers and a dozen second chance points in the second frame while limiting the Eagles to just 1-of-7 from deep and 11-of-25 from the field.
Akron held EMU to shooting under 40.0 percent from the field (19-of-50, .380) and under 10 percent from deep (1-of-15, .067). Bates led Eastern Michigan with 13 points on 3-of-13 shooting from the floor and 1-of-9 from downtown, while Noah Farrakhan registered 11 on 5-of-10 shooting.
By MIKE SMITH
TOLEDO, OH -- The Miami RedHawks managed to stay with Toledo back on Jan. 31, finally falling by three (81-78). The Rockets, however, made sure there was no such drama in the second meeting as they posted a comfortable 89-71 victory over MU.
It didn't help Miami that Morgan Safford was unavailable due to an injury from Saturday. The junior guard tallied 25 points in the first meeting. His absence put even more pressure on a relatively inexperienced team that has lost nine of its last 10 outings.
As has been the case lately, fouls were . . . CONTINUE
MUNCIE, Ind. – Ball State won its sixth straight on a night that saw five BSU players finish in double digits. Payton Sparks and Mickey Pearson Jr. each collected double-doubles as BSU defeated NIU 87-77.
Ball State improved to 19-7 and 10-3 in league play, while Northern Illinois fell to 11-15 overall and 7-6 in the MAC. With the win tonight, the Cardinals clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament in Cleveland on March 8.
Sparks led the Cardinals with 20 points and added a game-high 16 rebounds on the way to his eighth double-double of the season. He added three assists and a block. Pearson scored 10 points and brought down 11 boards as he produced his second double-double of the season.
Jarron Coleman recorded his 22nd game in double figures with 17 points. He added a game-high eight assists, which tied a career high. He led the team with two steals and brought down one rebound. Demarius Jacobs notched a 17-point effort, his 18th game in double figures. He collected three rebounds and two assists. Jaylin Sellers posted his 18th game in double figures with a 13-point performance. Sellers added two rebounds, a block, and a steal.
David Coit led the Huskies with a game-high 22 points. He added a team-high six assists with four rebounds. Zarique Nutter finished with 18 points along with three assists and two boards. Anthony Crump posted 16 points, a team-high eight rebounds, and two steals. Darweshi Hunter rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15 points to go along with three rebounds.
The first three minutes was a back-and-forth battle that saw two ties and two lead changes. The Cardinals went on a 12-2 run capped off by a Luke Bumbalough steal and a fastbreak layup with 12:56 left in the opening stanza.
Northern Illinois mounted a comeback and took a 21-20 lead with 8:10 on the clock after a 13-2 run. Ball State was unfazed and responded with a 6-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Kaiyem Cleary, BSU extended its lead to 26-21.
NIU outscored BSU 12-9 over the next 4:32 and cut the Cardinal lead to 35-33, with 2:23 left until the break. Ball State ended the half on a 7-0 run and took a 43-33 lead into the break. Coleman capped off the run with a big and-1 on a driving layup.
The Cardinals used the momentum from the end of the first and started the second half on a 7-0. Ball State extend its lead to 50-33 as Sellers accounted for five of the seven points.
NIU did not go down easily as the Huskies outscored the Cardinals 14-8 over the next 4:46 of game action and cut the BSU lead to 58-47. The Huskies followed that up with a 9-3 run and cut the deficit to five, 61-56, with 8:12 left in regulation.
The Cardinals were unfazed and answered with an 11-6 run to extend the lead to 10, 72-62. The final 3:19 was a back-and-forth affair as both teams scored 15 points. Ball State went on to win the game 87-77.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio--For the second straight game, Central Michigan overcame a late double-digit deficit as it outscored Bowling Green 19-4 over the game's final 4:35 to claim a 77-74 road win over the Falcons Tuesday evening at the Stroh Center.
Freshman Reggie Bass scored a game and career-high tying 25 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds, senior Brian Taylor scored 14 points with six assists and five rebounds, freshman Max Majerle added 10 points, senior Miroslav Stafl and sophomore Nicolas Pavrette both contributed nine points apiece.
Bowling Green was led by Metheny's 19 points, while Agee added 11.
The victory marked Central Michigan's second consecutive win, its second straight road victory, and 10th on the year. With the win, CMU moves into eighth place in the MAC standings with a 5-8 league record and 10-16 overall slate. The league's top eight teams will advance to the MAC Tournament, March 9-11 in Cleveland, Ohio. CMU handed Bowling Green its sixth consecutive loss and dropped the Falcons to 4-9 in the MAC and 10-16 overall.
On Saturday afternoon, Central Michigan overcame a 14-point second half deficit to defeat Miami (Ohio) on the road, 66-60. This time, Central Michigan trailed 70-58 when it used a 10-0 run to get back into the game. Bass hit back-to-back layups, senior Brian Taylor hit a 3-pointer, Bass followed with another layup to cut the lead down to four points (71-67) with 2:53 to go. Taylor then followed with a 3-pointer to pull CMU to within point at 71-70 with 2:09 left. After a BG turnover, Bass gave CMU a one-point lead (72-71) on a layup.
Following a layup by Bowling Green's Kaden Metheny which gave the Falcons the lead back, Bass was fouled and hit two free throws for a 74-73 CMU lead with 34 seconds left. CMU forced Bowling Green into missing two shots, grabbed the second rebound, and Bass was fouled again. He stepped to the line and hit both free throws for a 76-73 lead with four seconds to play. Freshman Ola Ajiboye secured the win with a free throw with one second left.
ATHENS, Ohio – Five Bobcats scored in double figures as the Ohio Bobcats (15-11, 7-6 MAC) returned to action Tuesday evening inside the Convocation Center, defeating Buffalo (12-14, 6-7 MAC) 85-61, for their fourth-straight victory,.
Overall, Ohio shot 46.9 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from three and were 18-of-25 from the line, while Buffalo shot 34.4 percent from the field, 12 percent from three and were 14-of-19 from the line. Ohio outrebounded the Bulls, 46-37, while Ohio forced 12 turnovers, scoring 17 points off them. Ohio also dished out 12 assists to Buffalo's four and grabbed eight steals to their five.
Individually, freshman guard Elmore James scored 15 points, going 6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from three, while graduate student Dwight Wilson III added 15 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Jaylin Hunter added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists, while senior guards DeVon Baker and Miles Brown both added 11 points for the Bobcats.
For Buffalo, Curtis Jones and Jonnivius Smith led with 14 points each, while Isaiah Adams added 10 points for the Bulls.
Ohio limited Buffalo to just 22 points before intermission and took a 34-22 lead into the break.
Ohio opened the second half on a 7-0 run that was highlighted by a deep three from senior forward Ben Roderick to go up 19.
After back-to-back threes from Buffalo helped cut the Ohio lead to 11, a three from James and a step-back jumper from Miles Brown gave the Bobcats a 48-32 lead, forcing Buffalo to call a timeout with 15:01 remaining in the game. Moments later, James and Buffalo traded baskets, with Ohio taking a 52-36 lead with 12:49 left in the game.
After Buffalo cut the Ohio lead to 14 with 11:42 remaining, a three from Baker and a driving layup from Hunter put the Bobcats up 19.
After the Bulls cut the Ohio lead to 17 multiple times, free throws from Wilson III and a layup from Baker put the Bobcats up 68-48 going into the under-eight media timeout. After the Bobcats increased their lead to 22 on free throws by Wiznitzer, the teams traded baskets until a hookshot from Wilson III and a jumper from Buffalo put Ohio up 76-55 going into the final media timeout.
Over the remaining three minutes, a driving layup from James and a three from Hunter put the Bobcats up 25, while the defense continued to hold Buffalo at bay, securing the 85-61 victory.
Kalamazoo, MI - Nine of 10 Flashes who stepped onto the court had at least two points while four recorded double figures as Kent State blasted Western Michigan 82-58 Tuesday at University Arena .
Kent State (21-5, 11-2 MAC) team takes the two-game series and clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament.
The Flashes outshot WMU in the first half, hitting 55.3 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from beyond the arch. This is the first time in MAC play the Flashes put up 50+ points in one half of a game. The last time the Flashes tallied at least 50 points in a half was against Concord on Dec. 18. The Flashes have won by 20+ points eight different times this season
Flashes' VonCameron Davis led the game with a career-high 21 points. Davis also collected five boards and recorded a plus-minus 23 points in the 27 minutes he played. Juliius Rollins played a career-high 25:40 and recorded a career-high 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Flashes took advantage of numerous opportunities in the first half, recording 26 points inside the paint, 12-second chance points, and 18 points off of the Broncos' turnovers.
Malique Jacobs dominated both sides of the court with 12 points, six rebounds and assists, and five steals. With Jacobs' five steals, he now has 74 steals for this season putting him only two behind the Kent State single-steal record.
The Flashes recorded 16 offensive rebounds, finishing with 41 total boards. The 16 offensive rebounds led to 19 second-chance points; the Broncos finished with 5.
Kent State was up 12-9 with 13:09 remaining in the first half, but pulled away for a 50-23 lead at intermission. The Broncos outscored KSU 35-32 in the second stanza, but it was not nearly enough to change the outcome.