Monday's MAC Men's Basketball Results
Kent State 90, Shawnee State 65
Northern Illinois 72, Roosevelt 46
Robert Morris 70, Ohio 67
Vanderbilt 69, Miami 62
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Kent State 90, Shawnee State 65
Boxscore
KENT, Ohio – The Golden Flashes spread around a little holiday cheer in the M.A.C. Center tonight as 11 different players scored for Kent State (10-3) which posted a 90-65 win over Shawnee State [Ohio] (7-7). It was the final non-conference game of the year for Kent State which heads to Buffalo on Saturday to begin Mid-American Conference play.
Senior forward Justin Greene (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and senior guard Carlton Guyton (Chicago, Ill.) paced the offensive output for the Golden Flashes scoring 15 points each to highlight four players in double figures. Greene, who was 9-11 from the foul line, also added three steals giving him 99 for his career and leaving him one shy of becoming the first player in school history to record over 1,000 career points, 100 blocks and 100 steals.
Located in Portsmouth, Ohio and a member of the NAIA Division I Mid-South Conference, Shawnee State displayed early in the game why it has already defeated two NAIA teams ranked No. 1 in the country this season. The Bears went toe-to-toe with the Golden Flashes for the first 10 minutes and held a 17-15 lead after two free throws at the 11:37 mark.
Kent State was then sparked by a 9-0 run capped off by a three from freshman Devareaux Manley (Oakland, Calif.) and never trailed again. The Golden Flashes eventually took a 44-31 lead at halftime before recording their seventh 50 percent second half field goal performance of the year to win going away.
"We hadn't played at home in a long time and wanted to accomplish a couple of things. We accomplished a few, missed some others," said Kent State Head Coach Rob Senderoff. "With the game of basketball you are not going to see perfection. We strive to be great every night and some nights are better than others. Tonight we scored 90 points and had four guys in double figures. We had 10 steals, more assists than turnovers and got to the free throw line 32 times which is all pretty good, plus at the end of the day we are 10-3."
In addition to Greene and Guyton, who handed out five assists for the second straight game, junior Chris Evans (Chesapeake, Va.) and freshman Kris Brewer were also in double figures. Evans was 5-7 from the field and finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four of Kent State's eight blocked shots which equaled a single game team record. Brewer meanwhile posted career highs of 10 points, five rebounds and five assists all in 21 minutes of action.
Kent State travels to Buffalo for the start of MAC play on Saturday, January 7. Tune into WNIR 100.1 FM to follow the action live.
Northern Illinois 72, Roosevelt 46
Boxscore
DEKALB, Ill. -- The Northern Illinois men’s basketball team allowed just eight second half points en route to a 72-46 victory over Roosevelt University on Monday night at the NIU Convocation Center. The Huskies held the Lakers to just 7.4 percent (2-of-27) second half shooting to erase a five-point halftime deficit and give head coach Mark Montgomery his first career win.
Redshirt sophomore guard Antone Christian (Nashville, Tenn./Martin Luther King Magnet) led the Huskies with a game-high 14 points. Senior forward Tim Toler (Indianapolis, Ind./Avon/Danville Area CC) added 12 points, freshman wing Abdel Nader (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) scored 11 points and freshman guard Marquavese Ford (Saginaw, Mich./Saginaw) chipped in 10 points, marking the first time all season more than two Huskies had reached double figures in a game.
“We came out in the first half and it looked like we were on Christmas break,” said Montgomery. “Fortunately we responded and went on a big run, but we were still down at halftime. But anytime you can hold a team to eight points in a half that is great defense … I was proud of my guys; this has been a long wait. They came back from the break and worked hard for seven days and you can see the results.”
Freshman forward Kevin Gray (Chicago, Ill./Brooks Academy) grabbed a career-best nine rebounds and added seven points for the Huskies who shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) from the floor in the contest. NIU outrebounded Roosevelt 49-26.
Leading 8-7 early in the contest, Roosevelt used a 15-3 run to take a 23-10 lead with 11:18 left in the half, forcing an NIU timeout.
Following the timeout, the Huskies responded with a 13-2 run to pull within a pair, 25-23, with just under six minutes left before the intermission. Nader opened the run with a jumper; he added two more baskets and Toler made a pair of buckets before freshman guard Stian Berg (Baerum, Norway/Norges Toppidretts Gymnas) capped the run with a triple.
After an old-fashioned three-point play by the Lakers, Ford scored five straight to even the game, 28-28, but Roosevelt answered with six-straight points, taking a 34-28 lead with 2:36 left before the half.
NIU cut the Laker advantage to five, 38-33, going into the intermission. Roosevelt’s Paul Tometich had seven points to lead the Lakers in the first half, Ford and Toler each had seven for the Huskies. NIU shot 44.8 percent (13-of-29) in the opening 20 minutes while Roosevelt went 13-of-31 (41.9 percent) from the floor in the opening stanza.
Still trailing by five, Christian connected on a jumper from the elbow and a triple from the wing to even the contest, 42-42, with 15:50 left in the second half, igniting a 19-0 run for the Huskies.
Ford gave NIU its first lead of the night, 45-42, with a triple and a Nader trifecta from the wing doubled the Huskie advantage.
Nader, freshman forward Jeremiah Jackson (Chicago,Ill./Warren Township), sophomore guard Aksel Bolin (Asker, Norway/Asker) and junior guard Tony Nixon (South Holland, Ill./Seton Academy) all added baskets as the Huskies held Roosevelt scoreless for nearly eight minutes until a free throw with 9:33 left stopped the run with NIU leading 56-43.
The Huskies then closed the game with a 16-3 run as they outscored Roosevelt 39-8 in the second half.
Mark Tometich led the Lakers with nine points.
NIU will begin Mid-American Conference play on Saturday, Jan. 7, when the Huskies host Eastern Michigan at 3 p.m., at the NIU Convocation Center.
Robert Morris 70, Ohio 67
Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio - Junior guard D.J. Cooper's 3-pointer from the top of the key rimmed out as time expired which handed the Ohio University men's basketball team (12-2) a 70-67 setback to Robert Morris Monday night at the Convocation Center.
Fellow juniors Ivo Baltic (Kansas City, Mo.) and Reggie Keely (University Heights, Ohio) finished the game with 14 points apiece, while Cooper (Chicago, Ill.) added 13 points and seven assists. Keely's 14 points came in 25 minutes off the bench.
Ohio's loss was its first at home this season and its first at home since Jan. 22, 2011. The loss also snapped Ohio's nine-game winning streak.
The Bobcats shot just 35 percent compared to RMU's 53.2 percent from the floor, but the Ohio forced Robert Morris into a season-high 31 turnovers. Keely posted a career-high four steals.
Robert Morris opened up an 8-2 lead at the 16:40 mark of the first half, but the Cats' responded by outscoring the Colonials 10-6 over the next three and half minutes to cut RMU's lead to 14-12 with 13:03 to go in the first half. Keely keyed the Bobcats run as he scored six points during the stretch.
Following the Cats' run, Robert Morris fired back with a run of its own and opened up a 10-point advantage with 8:42. The Colonials maintained a double digit lead with 2:55 until the break, leading 32-21, but the Cats' closed the half with a 10-1 spurt and went into the locker room trailing by just two points (33-31).
Cooper closed out the half with a 3-pointer as time expired. The Colonials trailed for only 54 seconds and led by as many as 11 points in the first half. The Bobcats' 11-point deficit was their largest of the season.
Cooper led all first half scorers with 11 points , while Keely added nine points, connecting on 3-of-5 from the field. RMU shot 63.2 percent from the field and held a 19-9 rebounding advantage.
In the second half, RMU started strong as it outscored the Ohio 13-4 to open up a 46-35 lead with 15 minutes remaining to go in the game. Ohio stormed back and as it outscored the Colonials 19-6 to take its first lead of the game since the 19:43 mark of the first half.
Sophomore guard Nick Kellogg (Westerville, Ohio) capped the surge as he connected on a 3-pointer, which gave the Bobcats a 54-52 lead with 10:48 to go in the game. The Colonials came right back as they outscored Ohio 8-2 over the five minutes to take a 60-56 lead.
Ohio remained within five points until the 1:13 mark of the second half when the Colonials opened up a six-point lead. RMU would eventually increase that lead to eight with 1:07 to play and appeared to be cruising along to its 11th victory on the year.
The Cats' had other ideas, as they rallied back to cut RMU's lead to just three points with 49 seconds to play. On the ensuing in-bound play, Ohio stole the ball and had possession with 43 seconds remaining, but were unable to score as RMU secured the win.
Ohio returns to action on Saturday as it opens up Mid-American Conference play at Bowling Green. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Vanderbilt 69, Miami 62
Boxscore
NASHVILLE, Tenn. --- Freshman guard Brian Sullivan drained eight 3-pointers to tie for third on Miami's single-game charts, but it was not enough as Miami University's men's basketball team was edged in a hard-fought battle at Vanderbilt on Monday evening, 69-62.