KENT STATE 88, CHICAGO STATE 59
ST. BONAVENTURE 81, BOWLING GREEN 68
OAKLAND 92, EASTERN MICHIGAN 90 (OT)
HOWARD 63, BUFFALO 59
RICE 96, WESTERN MICHIGAN 88
MUNCIE, Ind. – Jaylin Sellers registered a career-high 18 points and a career-best 14 rebounds as he picked up his first career double-double while leading Ball State past Indiana South Bend 86-72 Saturday at Worthen Arena..
Ball State moved to 3-1 on the season, while IU-South Bend fell to 3-4. For the second time this season, the Cardinals had six different players score in double figures. Payton Sparks finished the game with 17 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Jarron Coleman added 12 points, four rebounds, two blocks, one assist, and one steal. Demarius Jacobs produced a career-high three blocked shots to accompany his 12 points, game-high five assists, three rebounds, and one steal. Mickey Pearson Jr. posted 12 points to go along with his nine boards and two assists. Jalen Windham closed out the double-digit scorers with 12 points as he added four assists and one steal.
The Cardinals started the game strong and scored the first seven. BSU jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 17:15 left in the first half, capped off by a kickout from Jacobs to Coleman for a corner 3.
Ball State went on an 11-6 run to extend its lead to 18-6 with 13:34 left in the half. After IU-South Bend cut the lead to eight, 20-12, Sparks came up with a big dunk where he drew a foul and was able to convert the and-1 opportunity. Sparks seemed to spark the Cardinal offense as they went on an 11-2 run following the and-1 and the Cardinals had a 31-14 lead, their largest of the contest.
IU-South Bend surged back with a 16-4 run to cut the deficit to just five points, 35-30, with 3:40 left in the opening half. Ball State ended the half with a 6-4 run and took a 41-34 lead into the break.
The Cardinals started the second half like they did the first and went on a 12-4 run to open the final stanza of play.
IU-South Bend was able to get hot from 3-point range as the Titans went on a 22-10 run and cut the Ball State lead to just three, 63-60. During the run, the Titans went 4-for-5 from long range.
Jacobs found Pearson for a huge corner 3 to put the Cardinals up by six, 66-60 with 7:12 left in the game. Ball State outscored IU-South Bend 23-12 the remainder of the game to claim an 86-72 victory. The Cardinal defense held the Titans scoreless for the final 2:09 of the game.
The Ball State defense continued to be strong as it brought down 29 defensive rebounds. The Cardinals added nine offensive boards to bring the rebounding total to 38. BSU never trailed in the game and led for 39:30.
Donyell Meredith finished with a game-high 19 points and led the team with seven rebounds. Kenny Washington and Spencer Pettit each added 14 points. Washington added a team-high three steals. Miles Tracy rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points.
KENT, OH -- Six Kent State players reached double figures as the Golden Flashes moved to 5-0 on the season with an 88-59 win over Chicago State Saturday at the M.A.C Center.
Forward Mirne Thomas led the way with 17 points, followed by Sincere Carry (12), Giovanni Santiago (12), Delrecco Gillespie (11), Cliron Hornbeak (10) and Malique Jacobs (10).
Kent State sprinted out to an early lead and were up 56-28 by halftime. The Flashes connected on 40 percent of their shots overall. They owned a 44-33 rebound advantage and committed just 10 turnovers while forcing 28 by the Cougars. KSU recorded 17 steals on the day.
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - The Bowling Green Falcoons came up short against St. Bonaventure 81-68 on Saturday at the Reilly Center. BGSU made a late push, cutting the deficit down to 10 late in the game, but the Bonnies were able to hold off the comeback attempt. The loss moves BGSU back to .500 on the season with a 2-2 record and one game left in the current road stretch.
The Falcons were led in the scoring column by Leon Ayers, who tallied 18 points along with a team-high seven rebounds> He was one of four Falcons to reach double-digit points. Samari Curtis was close behind with 13 points to go along with a season-high six rebounds and a team-high four assists. Kaden Metheny and Chandler Turner rounded out the double-digit offensive outputs with 10 points each.
St. Bonaventure led 33-26 at the break and expanded its advantage to 20 points (54-34) by the 13:28 mark in the second half. BGSU managed to get it down to nine points twice after that but were unable to overtake the Bonnies.
ROCHESTER, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Eastern Michigan went into the halftime break trailing Oakland University, 45-36, but rallied from the deficit to tie the game at 82-82 and force overtime. Ultimately, the Eagles could not complete the comeback, falling to the Golden Grizzlies, 92-90, inside the O'Rena.
The Eagles (1-3) had five players score in double figures, led by Emoni Bates, who had 19 points. Tyson Acuff added a career-high 18 points and four assists and Noah Farrakhan chipped in with 15 points - all in the second half of play - and four assists.
Eastern Michigan out-rebounded Oakland, 33-31, in the game, led by six boards from Legend Geeter
The Eastern Michigan defense was effective at taking away the basketball in the game, forcing 13 Oakland turnovers while committing 12. Those takeaways turned into 20 points on the offensive end of the floor. Orlando Lovejoy led the way individually for the Eagles with three steals.
How It Happened
After falling behind, 44-27, Eastern Michigan went on a 9-0 run with 1:46 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Bates, to narrow its deficit to 44-36. Oakland answered back and added to its lead, leaving the Eagles down 45-36 entering halftime.
Eastern Michigan narrowed its deficit to 70-65 before going on an 8-0 run, finished off by Acuff's three, to seize a 73-70 lead with 6:12 to go in the contest. The Golden Grizzlies then fought back to even things up at 82-82 and send the game to overtime.
Eastern Michigan shot well from three-point range in the half, hitting eight shots from deep to score 24 of its 46 points.
The Eagles were out front 90-86 following a dunk by Geeter with 1:42 left in overtime, but Oakland pulled even at 1:14 and Trey Townsend scored on a layup with nine seconds remaining to give the Grizzlies a win.
After leading by five at the half, Buffalo was outscored 39-30 after intermission as the Howard Bison rallied for a 63-59 victory. With the loss, UB fell to 1-4 on the season. Howard moved to 3-4.
Curtis Jones led Buffalo, hitting 8-of-17 from the floor on the way to a game-high 22 points. However, Zid Powell (17 points) was the only other Bulls player in double figures. Four Bisons reached double figures, with forward Shy Williams coming off the bench for 14 points to lead Howard. Overall, Oakland got 26 points from its bench, while Buffalo's bench contributed eight points.
The Bulls heated things up early as for the fourth time this season, they scored their first points of a game from beyond the arc. In the first half, the Bulls were 6-for-13 from three. The six made threes tied the season game-high total as they had six against Colgate in the season opener. The Bulls had a 10-point lead at prior to the under 12 media timeout in the first half. Buffalo went into the half with a five-point lead.
The Bulls cooled down from three-point range as they went just 2-for-12. One of the threes came with 1:30 remaining in regulation. Overall, both teams shot 20-for-54 from the floor, but the major difference was at the free throw line. Howard went 18-of-24 from the charity stripe, while Buffalo finished 11-of-18.
HOUSTON, TX -- Western Michigan (2-3) shot 56.7 percent from the field but fell to Rice (3-2) 96-88 in Owl Invitational action Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Bronco senior guard Lamar Norman Jr. led all scorers with 30 points. He made 10-of-17 from the field overall and was 7-of-13 on treys. Jefferson Monegro hit 9-of-14 from the field on the way to 21 points, and junior center Titus Wright added 18. He was 8-of-10 from the floor.
Travis Evee tallied a game-high 31 points to lead Rice, which had three players in double figures. The Owls shot 53.2 percent from the field and 44.4 percent beyond the arc. Rice recorded eight steals while forcing 16 WMU turnovers. The hosts also finished with seven more made free throws.
Both teams made it to intermission with 41 points, but the Owls outscored Western Michigan 55-47 in the second half. WMU was up by nine (68-59) with 9:28 left, but took the lead for good on a triple by Quincy Olivari with 2:45 to go.