WESTERN MICHIGAN 78, BALL STATE 68
TOLEDO 91, BOWLING GREEN 86
MIAMI 66, NIU 65 (OT)
AKRON 86, BUFFALO 66
AKRON, Ohio – Senior Xavier Castaneda and junior Enrique Freeman combined for 51 points to power Akron to an 86-66 win over Buffalo to complete a season sweep on Saturday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Castaneda poured in a game-high 30 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, including a 5-of-9 performance from deep and a 11-of-12 effort from the charity stripe. He added a second-best six rebounds to go along with three assists and a steal. In addition, Castaneda became the 48th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in a blue and gold uniform. He finished the game with 1,007 points at Akron and 1,500 career points overall.
Freeman collected his 15th double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 boards as Akron out rebounded the Bulls 37-29. Freeman also issued a game-high two blocked shots with four assists and a steal. He shot 7-of-14 from the floor as Akron finished the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field (29-of-61) with eight trifectas.
Freshman Nate Johnson followed a career-high 13-point performance earlier in the week at Eastern Michigan with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a perfect 1-of-1 showing from downtown.
Graduate student guard Armoni Foster led Buffalo with 12 points and junior forward Isaiah Adams added 11 in defeat.
An explosive first half set the Zips (19-8, 11-3 MAC) on a winning course as they posted 46 points in the frame. Behind Freeman's dominance on the glass, they outrebounded Buffalo 37-29, including 11 offensive rebounds to secure second-chance scoring looks.
The Akron defense also harassed the Bulls (12-16, 6-8 MAC) all night long, forcing 13 turnovers and limiting the visitors to 46.4-percent shooting.
With the game in control, Akron never allowed Buffalo to mount a serious rally in the second half, maintaining a double-digit lead throughout and pushing the margin to as many as 26 late in the game.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Despite a slow start, the Ohio Bobcats (16-11, 8-6 MAC) notched their fifth straight win with a 76-59 verdict over Central Michigan (10-17, 5-9 MAC) Saturday at McGuirk Arena.
Overall, Ohio shot 49 percent from the field, 56.5 percent from three and were 13-of-20 from the line, while CMU shot 45 percent for the field, 26.7 percent form three and were 19-of-26 from the line. CMU outrebounded the Bobcats, 32-23, however the Bobcats dished out 11 assists and forced 18 turnovers, scoring 22 points off them.
Individually, sophomore forward AJ Clayton led the Bobcats with 18 points, going 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from the line, while junior guard Jaylin Hunter scored 14 points and dished out six assists. Senior guard Miles Brown added 12 points and went 4-of-5 from three, while senior guard DeVon Baker scored 11, followed by freshman guard AJ Brown with 10. Graduate student forward Dwight Wilson III added nine points and three rebounds.
For CMU, Reggie Bass scored 22 points, while Brian Taylor added 16 points and six rebounds.
Ohio took a 38-30 lead into halftime.
Ohio opened the second half with the first points of the game with a layup from James, before a jumper from Baker put the Bobcats up 42-31 going into the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bobcats held CMU without a field goal in the second half until the 11:32 mark in the second half.
Over that time, Clayton, Hunter and AJ Brown all drained threes, while Baker hit free throws and Wilson III connected on a layup and a free throw, giving the Bobcats a 62-39 lead 10:14 remaining in the game. Out of the timeout, CMU went on a 6-0 run to cut the Ohio lead to 62-45 with 7:51 remaining in the game.
Moments later, a layup from Wilson III and free throws from Clayton increased the Bobcats lead before a three from CMU cut the lead to 66-50 with 5:15 remaining in the game. After the CMU three, Ohio responded with a layup from Wilson III and a three from Miles Brown, giving the Bobcats a 71-51 lead with 3:29 remaining in the game. Over the remaining three minutes, CMU cut the Ohio lead to 73-59, but a three from Baker sealed Ohio's 76-59 win.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Four different players scored in double-figures as Western Michigan ended its skid with a 78-68 victory over Ball State on Saturday at University Arena. The WMU victory also snapped a six-game winning streak for the Cardinals.
Tray Maddox Jr. paced Western Michigan (7-20, 3-11 MAC) with 22 points, tied for his highest scoring output for the Brown & Gold. Lamar Norman Jr. was right behind Maddox with 20, giving the Broncos two 20+ point scorers in the same game for the fourth time this season.
Owen Lobsinger turned in one of his best games as a Bronco, as the sophomore posted career highs in both points (15) and rebounds (7), while also tying his career high with three steals. Markeese Hastings added 10 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the campaign.
Western Michigan used a 10-2 run to grab a 15-10 edge in the early stages of the contest. During the run, the Broncos kept Ball State (19-8, 10-4) off of the scoreboard for five minutes. The Cardinals drew level, 21-21, at the 6:53 mark of the first half.
WMU responded with 10 in a row, thanks to five points apiece from Maddox and Norman, to take a 31-21 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the opening period. The Broncos went into the halftime locker room with a seven-point edge, 36-29.
Ball State worked its way to within five, 42-37, with just over five minutes gone in the second half, but a Lobsinger layup and Norman triple pushed the WMU advantage back to 10, 47-37, at the 13:23 mark.
With the score 50-41 in favor of the Broncos, Lobsinger got four points in a matter of seconds. The Flint, Mich., native made a layup off of an offensive rebound, nabbed a steal, and then raced down for a breakaway jam to increase WMU's lead to 54-41 with 11:17 to play. Western Michigan's largest advantage of the afternoon came a few moments later, as a Norman basket made it 60-46 with 9:39 to play.
The Broncos kept the Cardinals at arm's length for much of the remainder of the contest. The closest BSU got down the stretch was six, 70-64, with three minutes to go, but Western Michigan scored six of the next eight points to once again extend its cushion into double-figures, and put the game beyond the visitors' reach.
WMU made 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the floor in the contest, while limiting Ball State to 37.7 percent (23-of-61) shooting. The Cardinals entered Saturday as the best three-point shooting team in the MAC at 38.0 percent, but were limited to seven-of-25 (28.0 percent) from beyond the arc by the Bronco defense.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – All five starters scored in double digits for a second game in a row and Toledo extended its winning streak to 11 on Saturday night with a 91-86 triumph over arch-rival Bowling Green (10-17, 4-10 MAC) in the Stroh Center.
The victory gives the Rockets their longest MAC winning streak ever in a single season and keeps UT (21-6, 12-2 MAC) in a tie with Kent State (22-5, 12-2 MAC) at the top of the Mid-American Conference. UT's 11-game winning streak is the third longest in the nation behind Eastern Washington (17) and Oral Roberts (12).
"That was a heck of a college basketball game, and we knew we would get their best shot," said Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk after the Rockets defeated the Falcons for the fourth-straight game. "We played frustrated in the first half after missing foul shots and committing seven turnovers. Once we settled into Rocket Basketball by taking care of the ball and getting some stops, we forced them to make big plays. Sometimes they did and that prevented us from getting a lot of separation."
Junior RayJ Dennis led Toledo with 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He was joined in double figures by senior JT Shumate (18 pts.), junior Dante Maddox Jr. (14 pts.), sophomore Ra'Heim Moss (13 pts.) and senior Setric Millner Jr. (11 pts.).
Junior Samari Curtis led the Falcons with 18 points and six assists.
Toledo shot 50.9 percent from the field, including a red-hot 62.1 percent in the final 20 minutes. The Rockets also knocked down 11-of-21 three-pointers (52.4%) and 24-of-28 free throws (85.7%). UT made its last 16 free throws after missing eight of its first 12 attempts at the charity stripe.
Toledo trailed 34-32 at halftime, marking the first time it was down at the intermission since its MAC opener vs. Ball State. The Rockets took the lead for good when Maddox Jr. buried a three-pointer to ignite an 8-0 spurt that gave UT a 62-54 advantage with 7:45 to play.
Bowling Green clawed back within 71-69 with 3:06 remaining, but Maddox hit another triple and Dennis converted a three-point play to provide Toledo the cushion it needed to secure the victory.
By MIKE SMITH
DEKALB, IL -- Among Anderson Mirambeaux's stats for Saturday's Miami win at Northern Illinois are the numbers "two" and "34."
The senior committed just two fouls, and that helped him stay on the court for 34 minutes in a 66-65 RedHawks win over NIU at the Convocation Center. Mirambeaux led all scorers with 18 points. Among them was a game-tying triple to force overtime and six of MU's eight points in the extra period.
It was an oh-so-welcome win for Miami, which recorded its third win against MAC competition this season. The RedHawks moved to 3-11 MAC and 9-18 overall. Northern Illinois, meanwhile, fell to 7-7 MAC and 11-16 overall.
With Miami's chances of . . . CONTINUE