TOLEDO 84, AKRON 63
BUFFALO 63, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 35
BALL STATE 82, KENT STATE 70
OHIO 77, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 68
MIAMI 74, BOWLING GREEN 65
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - Eastern Michigan put in a strong defensive effort to battle back from a double-digit deficit to defeat visiting Western Michigan, 66-59, Tuesday inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Eagles (7-21, 4-11 MAC) and kept their hopes of reaching the 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Eagles had three players score in double figures, led by Emoni Bates, who recorded 17 points and seven rebounds. Noah Farrakhan added 15 points, while Colin Golson Jr. helped out with 10 points and six rebounds from the bench.
The Eastern Michigan defense held WMU shooters to just 39.7 percent from the field, including 28.6 percent from three-point range. The Eagles also kept Bronco standout Tray Maddox Jr. (13 points) to 5-of-17 shooting in the game while limiting Lamar Norman Jr., to 18 points after he scored 35 last year in Ypsilanti. Seth Hubbard added 15 for WMU.
How It Happened
After falling behind, 24-14, Eastern Michigan went on a 7-0 run with 4:49 left in the first half to narrow its deficit to 24-21. The Eagles continued to narrow the gap and tied the game at 28-28 heading into halftime. The Green and White got the job done in the paint in the first half, scoring 14 of its 28 points close to the basket.
Western Michigan then snagged a 31-28 advantage before EMU responded by going on an 8-0 run, finished off by a Bates' triple, to seize a 36-31 lead with 17:38 to go in the contest. The Eagles kept expanding their margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 66-59 win.
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team is now alone in first place in the Mid-American Conference after winning its 12th game in a row with a dominating wire-to-wire 84-63 victory over third-place Akron (19-9, 11-4 MAC) on Tuesday evening before 5,677 fans in Savage Arena. The Rockets (22-6, 13-2 MAC) are now a game ahead of second-place Kent State (22-6, 12-3 MAC) after the Golden Flashes dropped an 82-70 decision at Ball State tonight.
Seniors Setric Millner Jr. and JT Shumate topped the Rockets offensively with 20 points apiece, while junior RayJ Dennis tallied 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Shumate also hit 9-of-11 free throws to help UT shoot 76.9% (10-of-13) from the charity stripe.
Junior Enrique Freeman paced Akron with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Toledo's defense produced one of its best halves of the season by limited the Zips to a 34.5 percent shooting mark en route to taking a 37-24 halftime lead The Rockets held Akron to a 19.0 three-point FG% (4-of-19) and didn't allow a trey until 6:42 remained in the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
JT Shumate scored the Rockets' first seven points, helping UT take a 7-2 lead less than four minutes into the game.
The Zips used a 7-0 run to pull within 12-11 with 12:55 remaining in the half.
Toledo responded immediately and Ra'Heim Moss' three-pointer at the 7:35 mark capped a 12-0 Rocket run for a 24-11 advantage.
The Rockets' lead remained in double digits the rest of the game and Dante Maddox Jr.'s three-pointer gave UT its largest lead of the half, 33-15, with 4:18 remaining.
Toledo took a 37-24 lead into halftime behind Shumate's 15 points.
SECOND HALF
Toledo opened the half with a 16-2 run to gain a 53-26 cushion with 15:28 remaining.
André Lorentsson's three-pointer at the 9:26 mark increased the Rockets' margin to 66-35.
Akron scored seven straight points to cut Toledo's lead to 71-46 with 6:42 to play but the closest the Zips came down the stretch was 17 points with two minutes left.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Buffalo (13-15, 7-8 MAC) cruised by the Central Michigan Chippewas (10-18, 5-10 MAC) on Tuesday evening, 63-35. Curtis Jones led the Bulls with 14 points, as he was one of four Bulls to score double figures. LaQuill Hardnett and Zid Powell scored 10 each as Isaiah Adams finished with a 12-point and 11-rebound double-double. C. Jones and Armoni Foster each had five assists on the night.
Brian Taylor was the only Chippewas player to reach double figures. He registered 12 points, although he went 4-of-15 from the floor. He was one of only three CMU players to have more than one field goal.
After Central Michigan took a 2-0 lead, the rest of the game was dominated by the Bulls. Buffalo went on a 20-0 run to take a 20-2 lead halfway through the first half. The 20-0 run marked the largest run of the season by the Bulls.
After starting 1-for-1 from the floor, the Chippewas then missed seven straight baskets and had seven turnovers over the eight-minute span before making their second basket of the game. At the half the Bulls held a comfortable 36-14 lead. Central Michigan was just 5-for-20 from the floor and 0-for-7 from three-point range. The Bulls were 13-for-31 from the floor while making three three-pointers. Buffalo recorded seven steals which led to 15 points off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Bulls did not slow down as they padded their lead to as much as 36 points late in the second half. Buffalo started the half on a 13-0 run to take a 49-14 lead at the 14:30 mark.
The Chippewas could not answer as they made just nine shots in the second half and failed to make a three-pointer in the game, finishing 0-for-13 from beyond the arc. Buffalo's defense played exceptionally well on the evening as they held the Chippewas to under 30% from the floor, forced 23 turnovers, and notched 17 steals.
Central Michigan's 35 points marked the fewest points scored by a MAC opponent against the Bulls since joining the MAC in the 1998-99 season.
The Bulls finished 23-for-63 (36.5%) from the floor and 8-for-28 (26.8%) from three-point range.
Adams' double-double marked his second of the season, the first coming on the road at Central Michigan when he also finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
MUNCIE, Ind. – Jaylin Sellers led the BSU with 20 points and Payton Sparks collected a double-double as the Cardinals knocked off the Golden Flashes 82-70 on Tuesday at Worthen Arena.
With the victory, Ball State improved to 20-8 overall and 11-4 in MAC play. Kent State fell to 22-6 overall and 12-3 in league games.
Sellers finished with a team-high 20 points and added two rebounds. Luke Bumbalough recorded a season-high 13 points with four assists and three rebounds. Basheer Jihad also tallied 13 points to go along with his six boards and he tied a career high with two blocks.
Demarius Jacobs shot 80.0 percent from the field and finished with 12 points. He added five boards and four assists. Sparks collected his ninth double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. He dished out one assist. Jarron Coleman produced a game-high eight assists, which tied a career high and was two more than Kent State produced as a team. Coleman added nine points and three rebounds.
Kent State was led by Sincere Carry with a game-high 21 points. He tied for a team high with six rebounds to go along with an assist and a steal. Malique Jacobs finished with 18 points, six boards, a team-high three assists, a block, and a steal. Miryne Thomas closed out the double-digit scores with 13 and brought down five rebounds.
The game started as a defensive battle that saw an 11-11 tie after the first 6:17 of play. During that stretch the Cardinals were 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. The next 4:30 was the same as the score was tied 21-21 with 6:50 left in the opening stanza.
The remainder of the first half continued to be a back-and-forth war as Kent State took a 33-32 lead into the half. Ball State finished the first half 15-of-19 from the free-throw line.
The Cardinals came out on fire in the second half with a 16-3 run, which led to a BSU 45-36 lead. During the run, Ball State was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field. Sellers and Sparks collected back-to-back dunks that ignited the BSU crowd. A Sellers 3-pointer at the end of the run forced a Kent State timeout.
The Golden Flashes answered with a 6-0 run and cut the Cardinal lead to 48-42 with 15:21 left in regulation. Ball State was unfazed and responded by outscoring Kent State 11-6 over the game's next 4:08.
The Cardinals held an eight-point lead, 67-59, with 5:24 left in regulation. Ball State outscored Kent State 9-4 and took a 76-63 lead, its largest of the night, with 2:56 remaining in the game. The Golden Flashes outscored the Cardinals 7-6 in the remaining minute, but BSU used a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to help secure an 82-70 victory.
ATHENS, Ohio – Dwight Wilson III recorded his 1,000-career rebound, and the Ohio Bobcats (17-11, 9-6 MAC) gutted out their sixth-straight win Tuesday, defeating Northern Illinois (11-17, 7-8 MAC), 77-68, inside the Convocation Center.
Wilson III became the fourth Bobcat to record at least 1,000 career rebounds and the fourth Bobcat to record 1,000 career points and rebounds.
Overall, Ohio shot 42.6 percent from the field, 32.1 percent from three and were 10-of-14 from the line, while NIU shot 56.6 percent from the field, were 1-of-19 from three and were 9-of-19 from the line Ohio outrebounded the Huskies, 41-38, while Ohio dished out 14 assists to their 13. Ohio also forced 12 turnovers and scored 16 points off them.
Individually, Wilson III led Ohio with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard Jaylin Hunter added 16 points, four rebounds and seven assists. Freshman guard Elmore James added 10 points and six rebounds, while senior guard Miles Brown added nine points and two blocks.
For NIU, Darweshi Hunter scored 17 points, while Zarique Nutter added 13 points and Anthony Crump grabbed 10 rebounds.
The two teams reached intermission knotted at 37-apiece.
Ohio opened the second half with the first two points on a layup from Wilson III, however NIU went on a 4-0 run to take a two-point lead, forcing Ohio to burn a 30 second timeout with 17:48 remaining in the game. After the Bobcats tied the game back up, NIU took a three-point lead, however back-to-back jumper from James and Hunter gave the Bobcats a one-point lead with 15:26 remaining in the game. After Ohio went up two, NIU went on a 5-0 run to take a three-point lead, before a jumper from Wilson III cut the Ohio deficit to 51-50 going into the under-12 media timeout.
After the Bobcats retook the lead, NIU's first three of the game put the Huskies up two. After a dunk from Wilson III tied the game, a jumper from NIU gave them the two-point lead with 7:49 remaining in the game. After free throws from Wilson III tied the game, NIU went back up three before a three-point play from Miles Brown tied the game at 59-59. Moments later, a three from Roderick gave Ohio a three-point lead. After the two teams traded baskets over the next minute, a driving layup from Miles Brown gave Ohio a 66-63 lead with 4:13 remaining in the game
After NIU cut the Ohio lead to two points with 2:35 remaining, a layup from Wilson III and a corner three from James put the Bobcats up 71-64, forcing NIU to call a timeout. After the timeout, a steal and two layups from Hunter and a free throw from senior guard DeVon Baker down the stretch helped secure the 77-68 victory.
By MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, OH -- Anderson Mirambeaux came through for the Miami RedHawks again Tuesday, but this time he had help with an inside game that powered MU past Bowling Green 74-65 at Millett Hall.
It was Miami's second straight victory, raising the RedHawks to 4-11 in MAC play (10-18 overall). Mirambeaux played a key role in both victories.
Bowling Green, meanwhile, lost its eighth straight, joining Miami at 4-11 MAC (10-18 overall). Samari Curtis led the Falcons, scoring all 17 of his points in the second half. However, Chandler Turner (10 points) was . . . CONTINUE