BALL STATE 93, BOWLING GREEN 72
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 81, WESTERN MICHIGAN 53
TOLEDO 70, EASTERN MICHIGAN 63
By MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, OH -- Central Michigan's inside game kicked in during the second half and the Chippewas capitalized at the foul line to pull out a 66-60 win over Miami Saturday at Millett Hall.
The victory broke a three-game losing streak for CMU, which raised its MAC record to 4-8 (9-16 overall). Miami, which picked up its second MAC win of the year Tuesday against Western Michigan, fell to 2-10 MAC, 8-17 overall.
Chippewas senior guard Brian Taylor led all scorers with 22 points and also registered a game-high eight rebounds. Freshman Reggie Bass contributed 11 points.
Miami, meanwhile, had four players . . . CONTINUE
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team returned to the friendly confines of Worthen Arena for a Mid-American Conference contest with Bowling Green on Saturday. Payton Sparks led the Cardinals with 18 points as BSU defeated BGSU 93-72.
For the third-straight game, Ball State finished with five players in double digits. The Cardinals extended their winning streak to five games and are now 18-7 overall and 9-3 in MAC play. The Falcons fell to 10-15 overall and 4-8 in league play.
Sparks produced a team-high 18 points for his 18th game in double figures on the year. He finished 8-of-11 from the field. He led the team with eight rebounds and added three assists. Jaylin Sellers was a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range and tallied 17 points, his 17th contest with double figures. Sellers led the team with two blocks to go along with two assists and two rebounds. Jarron Coleman posted a 13-point effort, his 21st game of the season in double figures. He brought down seven rebounds with four assists and a steal.
Kaiyem Cleary recorded his second game in double figures with 12. He chipped in with six rebounds and one block. Mickey Pearson Jr. collected 11 points, six rebounds, and one assist. Luke Bumbalough led the team with eight assists to go along with eight points.
Samari Curtis led BGSU with a game-high 20 points to go along with three rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Brenton Mills notched 14 points, two rebounds, and a steal. Chandler Turner closed out the double-digit scorers with 11 points. He added a team-high seven rebounds to go along with one assist and one steal.
Ball State came out of the gates firing on all cylinders and took a 9-2 lead with 16:54 left in the first stanza. The Falcons pulled within two points, 11-9, with a 7-2 run.
The Cardinals went on a 14-4 run, led by 12 points from Sellers (4-of-4 from 3), and extended their lead to 25-13 with 9:05 left in the half.
The Falcons scored the game's next five points, but the Cardinals answered with a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 34-18 with just under six minutes remaining in the half. The remainder of the first half was a back-and-forth battle as each team scored 15 points. Ball State took a 49-33 lead into the break.
Over the first 4:38 of the second half, BSU outscored BGSU 11-5 and extended its lead to 60-38. After Bowling Green free throw, Ball State scored eight unanswered to take a 68-39 lead with 13:52 left on the clock.
The Cardinals produced their largest lead of the night of 29 points, 74-45, with 11:36 left in regulation. Bowling Green responded with a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to 78-58. BSU outscored BGSU 15-14 and went on to win 93-72.
DEKALB, Ill. – Six Huskies scored in double figures as Northern Illinois overwhelmed Western Michigan, 81-53, on Saturday afternoon at the NIU Convocation Center. Zarique Nutter scored a game-high 18 points while Anthony Crump had 11 points and a career-best 14 rebounds for his second career double-double. Kaleb Thornton also had a double-double with 10 points and a career-high tying 11 assist.
Harvin Ibarguen just missed a double-double with career-high tying 13 points and a career-best nine rebounds while Darweshi Hunter added 11 points. This was the first time NIU has had six double-figure scorers in a game since Dec. 14, 2016, against Olivet Nazarene.
With the victory, NIU improves to 7-5 in Mid-American Conference play, 11-14 overall, and is currently in fifth place with three weeks left in the regular season.
Western Michigan jumped out to a quick start, taking a 12-4 lead in the opening five minutes of the contest.
Coit scored to ignite an 8-3 NIU burst as the Huskies pulled within three. Thornton added a layup, Hunter made a triple from the wing and Nutter made a free throw as the Huskies cut the Western Michigan lead to 15-12 with 11:51 to play before the break.
Trailing by three, a basket by Hunter started a 10-2 NIU run. Crump converted an alley-oop from Hunter before Coit and Thornton both made triples as NIU took a 22-19 lead with eight-and-a-half minutes to play in the opening half.
Western Michigan tied the game at 22, but Coit answered with a trifecta before Nutter and Thornton each finished at the rim, giving the Huskies a seven-point lead with five minutes left before the half.
The NIU lead grew to 11 on Coit's third triple of the half, but Western Michigan scored the final three points of the half to cut the Huskie lead to 35-27 at the intermission.
Coit led all scorers with 11 points in the opening 20 minutes, JaVaughn Hannah and Lamar Norman Jr. each had six to lead the Broncos. NIU shot 56 percent (14-of-25) from the field in the first half, including 50 percent (5-of-10) from three.
A pair of dunks from Ibarguen, a coast-to-coast finish from Crump and a short jumper by Coit gave the Huskies a 43-29 advantage early in the second half.
With NIU in front by 13, the Huskies went on a 7-0 burst to push the lead to 60-40. A pair of finishes at the rim from Nutter and a driving layup from Crump, followed by a free throw by Nutter put the Huskies in front by 20 with less than nine minutes left.
Crump and Thornton's double-doubles marked the first time NIU had two players with double-doubles in the same game since Nov. 18, 2019, against Longwood.
NIU shot 52.5 percent (32-of-61) from the field in the contest, including 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from three-point range. Western Michigan shot just 33.3 percent (18-of-54) and 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from three.
Norman Jr. led the Broncos with 12 points, Seth Hubbard added 11 off the bench for the visitors.
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Toledo overcame an off-shooting night and grinded out a 70-63 victory at Eastern Michigan on Saturday night to remain in a first-place tie in the Mid-American Conference. The victory extended the Rockets' winning streak to nine games and kept UT (19-6, 10-2 MAC) tied for the top spot in the MAC with Kent State (20-5, 10-2 MAC).
"We're a veteran team and we won this game in grind-out fashion," said Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk, who won his 250th game on the Rocket bench. "Our leadership showed tonight, and we just buckled down and got stops. We just need to continue to get better."
Junior RayJ Dennis registered his fourth career double-double by leading the Rockets with 18 points, a career-high tying 10 rebounds and team-best three steals. Senior Setric Millner Jr. and junior Dante Maddox Jr. each scored 17 points to provide Toledo a balanced scoring attack.
Junior Tyson Acuff tallied a game-high 36 points for Eastern Michigan (6-19, 3-9 MAC) and was the only Eagle to score in double digits.
Toledo shot 39.3 percent from the field for its second-lowest mark of the season. The Rockets also were just 5-of-23 (21.7%) from three-point range but knocked down 17-of-20 free-throw attempts (85.0%).
The Rockets, who entered the game ranked 13th nationally with a 48.8 FG%, overcame their subpar shooting performance by dominating EMU on the glass with a 44-32 rebound advantage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
~~ Toledo took a 34-31 lead to the locker room with Millner Jr. and Maddox Jr. each scoring a team-high 10 points.
~~ Toledo took a pair of five-point leads in the first six minutes after halftime.
~~ EMU went on an 11-4 spurt to take a 46-44 lead on Tyson Acuff's four-point play at the 11:57 mark.
~~ Acuff increased the Eagles' lead to 53-48 with a triple just over three minutes later.
~~ The Rockets then went on a 15-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 63-55 advantage and gain control.
~~ Maddox Jr knotted the score at 53-53 with a steal and dunk and Dennis' driving layup put the Rockets up 63-55 with 4:23 to play.
~~ Toledo's lead didn't drop below five points down the stretch as the Rockets knocked down 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute.