OHIO 74, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 62
TOLEDO 86, BUFFALO 75
BOWLING GREEN 85, EASTERN MICHIGAN 71
AKRON 60, EASTERN MICHIGAN 56
KENT STATE 75, WETERN MICHIGAN 64
MUNCIE, IN -- Ball State shot 62.5 percent from the field and controlled the boards to power the Cardinals past Miami 81-64 Tuesday at Worthen Arena.
In addition to holding a 35-22 rebounding advantage, Ball State (8-10, 3-4 MAC) owned a 13-6 edge in made free throws and outscored Miami (9-9, 3-4 MAC) by a 38-22 margin in the paint.
Miryne Thomas, a 6-8 forward, led BSU with 26 points. Freshman Forward Payton Sparks was right behind with 23 points. Both players hit 9 of 12 shots from the field, and Thomas went four of five from beyond the arc. Tyler Cochran also reached double figures with 10 points.
The two teams were tied at 10-all early. Ball State then scored five straight and never trailed. The Cardinals went to halftime with a 31-19 lead and cruised to a victory that broke BSU's three-game losing streak.
ATHENS, Ohio – A 17-2 first half run helped Ohio claim a 74-62 victory over Northern Illinois Tuesday at the Ohio Convocation Center.
Mark Sears led the way for the Bobcats with 26 points. Ben Vander Plas tallied 15. Keshawn Williams scored 12 to pace the Huskies while Kaleb Thornton added 10 points.
Baskets by Chinedu Kingsley Okanu and Williams gave NIU a 9-6 lead seven minutes into the contest, but Ohio answered with the next six to move in front by three.
A pair of free throws from Zool Kueth, a free throw by Okanu and a bucket from Williams moved the Huskies back in front by a pair, 14-12, just before the midway point of the half. However, Ohio used a 17-2 run to take a 29-16 lead with 5:40 left in the half. The Bobcats made a pair of triples and seven free throws during the burst.
Ohio closed the half by scoring 10 of the last 12 points to take a 41-22 advantage into the break.
In the second half, the Huskies outscored the Bobcats by seven, 40-33, as NIU shot 48.5 percent (16-of-33) from the line while holding Ohio to just 35.5 percent (11-of-31) shooting.
TOLEDO, Ohio - Ryan Rollins tallied 25 points, 11 rebounds five assists and four steals to lead Toledo to an 86-75 victory over Buffalo Tuesday night in Savage Arena.
The Rockets' victory pushes their winning streak to seven straight and keeps them in first place in the Mid-American Conference. UB's loss was the Bulls first setback after four straight wins.
The game was tied 41-41 at the half, but the Rockets (16-4, 8-1 MAC) blew the contest open with a 17-3 run to give them a 74-62 lead with six minutes to play. Buffalo (10-7, 4-3 MAC) never got any closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Rollins was joined in double digits by juniors Setric Millner Jr. (13 pts.), JT Shumate (13 pts.), and redshirt freshman Ra'Heim Moss (12 pts.). Moss was 4-of-4 from the field as well as the free-throw line and dished out a season-high six assists and grabbed four rebounds.
Senior Jeenathan Williams led the way for the Bulls with 24 points. Josh Mballa posted a double-double with 11 points and 13 boards, while Ronaldo Segu added 11 points. Buffalo outrebounded the Rockets, 43-37, but held just an 11-9 advantage in second-chance points.
The Rockets shooting 50.9 percent from the field, including a robust 63.0 percent in the second half. Toledo also made the most of its free-throw opportunities, knocking down 25-of-32 of its attempts.
BOWLING GREEN, Oh - Bowling Green State picked up its third win over the last four games, topping the Eastern Michigan Eagles by a score of 85-71 inside the Stroh Center Tuesday night.
Myron Gordon paced the Falcons with a season-high 21 points, followed closely by Joe Reece who added 20 of his own. Matiss Kulackovskis (16) and Daeqwon Plowden (12) reached double-figures, as well. The win pushes BGSU to 11-9 on the season and 4-5 within the Mid-American Conference.
Colin Golson Jr. topped Eastern Michigan with 16 points, while Bryce McBride netted 15 points. It was the fourth straight loss for EMU, which fell to 7-11 overall and 2-5 in MAC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Falcons and Eagles began the game by trading buckets early, with the Falcons slowly building a lead along the way. Bowling Green wouldn't give up the lead the rest of the night, with only two ties interrupting BGSU's nearly 38 minutes in front.
Bowling Green reached the first double-digit lead of the night after two Chandler Turner free throws pushed the score to 35-24. Up to that point there had only been one run of five or more points for either team, being a 5-0 stretch for the Falcons.
BGSU closed out the first half on a 14-5 run, taking a 15-point lead to the halftime break with the score at 46-31.
The trading of baskets continued into the second half before a 16-3 stretch pushed the Bowling Green lead to 20 points with two-and-a-half minutes remaining at 82-62 before ending in an 85-71 final.
Mount Pleasant, Mich. – The Akron Zips held on to a narrow 60-56 win on the road at Central Michigan as sophomore Enrique Freeman and junior Xavier Castaneda paced Akron with 16 points each, while sophomore Ali Ali added 15 at McGuirk Arena on Tuesday.
Freeman collected his ninth double-double of the season by adding a game-high 11 rebounds, but the Chippewas controlled the boards 36-30, including 16 offensive rebounds that the Zips limited to only 12 second chance points.
Cameron Healy led the Chips with 18 points and Ralph Bissainthe added 11 points in defeat.
It was a slow start for both teams as only seven total points were scored (4-3) until the 11:51 mark when the Chippewas buried a corner 3-pointer for a 7-3 advantage. The Zips quickly responded with a sophomore Greg Tribble layup, ending Akron's 1-of-11 start and 0-5 showing from long distance.
Akron made the next 9-of-12 field goals, including 2-of-2 from deep and outscored the home team 22-13 for a 27-20 advantage by the 2:54 mark. The Zips held a seven-point advantage, 31-24, heading into the break and finished the half shooting 46.2 percent from the field (12-of-26).
Akron finished the first half with an 18-12 advantage in the paint and continued the trend in the second half, scoring their first six points in the painted area before junior Bryan Trimble, Jr. buried a trifecta to make it 40-29 by the 16-minute mark.
CMU cut into Akron's lead with a 13-4 run, but the Zips continued held on. The Chippewas pulled within one point 49-48 and had an opportunity to take the lead, but Akron forced a shot clock violation. More tough defense down the stretch kept the visitors in front.
A timely 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Castaneda placed Akron ahead 58-52, and with 17.2 seconds left in the game, Ali buried the final two bonus buckets to secure the win.
KENT, Ohio – Five different Flashes reached double figures as Kent State (10-9, 5-4 MAC) earned a hard-fought 75-64 victory over Western Michigan (4-15, 0-8 MAC) on Tuesday night, at the M.A.C. Center.
Jacobs finished with his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and recording 10 rebounds to go along with a game-high six assists. Carry added 14 points with four assists and added two steals. Davis and Justyn Hamilton also scored in double figures for the Flashes with Davis posting a career-high 11 points. Hamitlon nearly recorded a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Lamar Norman Jr. paced the Broncos with 22 points, while Markeese Hastings registered a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Kent State jumped on the Broncos early and built a 26-10 lead within the first nine minutes of the game. Malique Jacobs posted five quick points to go with six rebounds and four assists in the first seven minutes.
Kent State led by as many as 20 in the opening half and took a 47-30 lead into the halftime locker room. The Flashes' 47 first-half points were the most they have scored in a single half of basketball against a Division-I opponent this season.
After trailing by double digits for the beginning portion of the second half, WMU rallied back to cut the Flashes' lead to just six points with 7:25 to play. A loose ball grabbed by VonCameron Davis led to a crosscourt pass from Jacobs to Carry for a huge three-pointer to extend the lead to nine.
From that three-pointer on, the Flashes held the Broncos at arm's length thanks to big plays by Andrew Garcia down the stretch. Garcia had his best game as a Golden Flash, posting a season-high 18 points and grabbing five boards.