Close Games Highlight Wednesday's Men's Basketball Action

Bowling Green, Ohio – Nick Harney’s floater in the lane with 0.5 seconds left gave Akron a 56-55 win over the Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team Wednesday night in Mid-American Conference action in the Stroh Center.

Bowling Green did not trail until the final 32 seconds of the game but Akron overcame a 10-point second half deficit by outscoring the Falcons 17-6 over the final eight minutes of play. Both teams entered the game at 1-0 in MAC play and the Zips now stand as the only unbeaten team left in the East Division.

Six different players scored at least seven points for Bowling Green as the Falcons used balanced scoring and a strong bench effort to lead throughout. A’uston Calhoun and Scott Thomas scored five points each in the early going as BGSU scored the first eight points of the game and build a quick 14-3 lead.

Akron stormed back to tie the game at 18-18 but Bowling Green closed the half with an 8-2 run to take a 26-20 lead into the half.

The Zips could get no closer than four through most of the second half and Craig Sealey scored back-to-back baskets followed by a Dee Brown fastbreak lay-up with 8:05 to go to give the Falcons a 49-39 lead. Akron bounced back with nine straight points to make it close once again.

Harney’s three-pointer with 1:33 to go finally tied the score at 53-53 and Quincy Diggs made 1-of-2 free-throws with 32 seconds to play to give Akron its first lead at 54-53. On the ensuing possession, Calhoun was unable to convert inside but Calhoun rebounded the miss and scored with 12 seconds left. He was fouled but missed the free-throw and Akron corralled the rebound and called timeout with nine seconds left.

On the inbounds, Harney drove down the lane and lifted a floater over Black, who was attempting to take a charge. His shot bounced around the rim and finally fell through with less than a second remaining. Dee Brown’s three-quarter court heave hit off the back iron as time expired.

Black had a strong game inside, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go with a game-high seven rebounds. He also had a blocked shot in 27 minutes and kept Akron 7-footer Zeke Marshall from making an impact. Marshall ended with just seven points, four rebounds, and no blocked shots.

Brown also finished with 10 points and added four rebounds and three assists. Thomas and Calhoun finished with nine points each and Sealey came off the bench for seven points and five rebounds in 17 minutes. 

Akron improves to 10-6 overall and 2-0 in MAC play with the win. Bowling Green falls to 7-8 and 1-1 in conference action. The Falcons will play at Kent State Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Golden Flashes are 11-4 overall and 1-1 in MAC play.

ATHENS, Ohio – Ohio Men's Basketball had one of its finest defensive performances of the season as it improved to 13-3, 1-1 in Mid-American Conference play, on Wednesday night with a 60-52 home win over Buffalo.

The Bobcats held the MAC's highest-scoring team 26 points below its season average and kept the Bulls' Javon McCrea in check. The reigning MAC East Player of the Week and league leader in field goal percentage was held to eight points on 4-of-13 shooting by the Ohio defense.

The 'Cats were also impressive on the glass, out-rebounding UB by three and grabbing 17 offensive caroms. The Bulls entered the game seventh nationally in rebounding margin with an average of +9.7 per contest. Jon Smith led the Bobcats with 10 rebounds, one shy of his career-best, and D.J. Cooper, Ivo Baltic and T.J. Hall had seven rebounds apiece. For Hall, it matched a career-high set last season.

Cooper scored 15 points and dished out five assists. Nick Kellogg added 14 points on four three-pointers and two free throws while Baltic finished with 12 points. Mitchell Watt with 18 points was the only Buffalo player in double-figures for Buffalo (8-5, 1-1 MAC). He also had 12 rebounds, matching his career-high.

The Bobcats continued to struggle offensively, shooting just 32.2 percent themselves, but they managed 10 more free throw attempts than the Bulls and also held a 23-15 edge in the turnover battle. Ohio held a 22-14 advantage in points off turnovers and a 17-10 advantage in second chance points.

Kellogg knocked down three of his four trifectas in the first four minutes as Ohio scored the game’s first 12 points and never trailed. Buffalo did not get on the board until 14:21 left on the first-half clock on a Watt jumper.

The Bobcats took a 35-25 lead to the locker room with Baltic and Kellogg each scoring nine points. Smith added four points and seven rebounds, six on the offensive end.

The Bulls got as close as 33-30 with 15:07 left in the game on a Titus Robinson free throw but Ricardo Johnson hit a pair of free throws and followed a miss to start an 11-0 run that put Ohio back up by 14 midway through the half. During that stretch, Buffalo went scoreless for nearly six minutes before McCrea ended the drought with a layup.

Kellogg’s final three-pointer gave Ohio its biggest lead, 49-34, at the 7:49 mark. Buffalo cut its deficit to single digits briefly before Walter Offutt drained a triple to make the score 56-44 with 1:57 remaining.

After making 3-of-5 from three point range to start the game, the Bobcats went only 2-of-17 for the rest of the game, finishing at 23 percent. Ohio’s struggles didn’t end there as it shot only 59 percent from the free throw line.

The 32.2 shooting percentage for the Bobcats was the lowest in a win not only for this season (36.5 vs. Morgan State), but also the John Groce era. The previous low for an Ohio shooting percentage in a win was 34.4 against Toledo on February 4, 2010. The last time Ohio failed to eclipse 60 points and pick up a win occurred in the 2010 MAC Tournament when the 'Cats beat Miami 54-42.

Ohio takes on Akron at 4 p.m. Saturday at James A. Rhodes Arena in a game that will be broadcast on ESPNU.

KENT, Ohio – Senior forward Justin Greene (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored a season high 23 points including the go-ahead basket with 23 seconds remaining as Kent State (11-4; 1-1 MAC) rallied for a 71-67 Mid-American Conference win over Miami (4-10; 0-2 MAC) on Wednesday night at the M.A.C. Center.  The Golden Flashes erased a seven point deficit in the final six minutes by closing the game out with a 13-2 run.  

“When we needed to make plays on the defensive end and when we needed to get defensive rebounds, we seemed to come up with all of them,” said Kent State Head Coach Rob Senderoff.  “Our kids did a phenomenal job just not giving up, staying with it and finding a way to win.”

Greene’s big night was backed up by a 16 point effort from junior guard Randal Holt (Cleveland, Ohio) who had a game tying layup with 1:27 left and then helped seal the win with two free throws in the final 10 seconds after Kent State forced a Miami turnover.  Holt also chipped in five rebounds and three steals.  

Senior guard Carlton Guyton (Chicago, Ill.) added 10 points for the Golden Flashes all the while setting up the game winning basket by driving and dishing off to Greene and also had a key three-pointer with five minutes left that cut a six point deficit in half.  Despite an 0-9 effort from the field, senior guard Michael Porrini (Massillon, Ohio) had a big night statistically and was involved in numerous amount of key plays that fueled Kent State’s second half resurgence.  The 2011 MAC Defensive Player of the Year. Porrini grabbed nine rebounds, had four blocks and two steals to go along with his eight assists.  Seven of his nine rebounds cam in the second half during which the Golden Flashes had a 24-14 advantage on the boards.  

“Every win is important, especially every win at home,” said Senderoff.  “You can’t lose home games in this league, it’s too tough to win on the road to lose home games.”

Kent State at home again on Saturday, Jan. 14 against Bowling Green at 7:00 pm.  

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team was able to turn it on late in the second half to hold off a hungry Northern Illinois team, and the Broncos defeated the Huskies 77-68 at University Arena on Wednesday. With the win, the Broncos improve to 7-9 on the season, 1-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The Huskies fall to 1-13 overall, 0-2 in MAC play. Hayden Hoerdemann finished with a game- and career-high 18 points, including a 4-of-6 night from three-point range. 

The win marked a special occasion for head coach Steve Hawkins, as it was the 152nd win of Hawkins' career at Western Michigan.  He moves into a tie with former WMU head coach Bob Donewald for second place on the program's head coaching victories list.  Hawkins reached 152 wins in less than nine full seasons in Kalamazoo; Donewald needed 11 seasons to reach the total.

Leading just 67-64 with two minutes remaining, Demetrius Ward made a pair of free throws to extend the Broncos' lead to four points; he would drain a 10-footer on WMU's next trip down the court to give the Broncos a 71-64 lead with 1:25 remaining. Nate Hutcheson would continue to stretch the lead, robbing NIU's Abdel Nader of the ball on the ensuing Huskies possession and drawing a foul, and ultimately making a pair of free throws at the 1:13 mark.  The Broncos would go 6-of-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to down the Huskies at home.

The Broncos opened the second half on a 12-4 run, with Matt Stainbrook single-handedly outscoring the Huskies with seven points in that span. Stainbrook scored just four points in the first half, but posted 12 in the second half to take control of the offense. He gave the Broncos their first double-digit lead of the game with a tip-in at the 15:48 mark, making it 44-34. The Huskies worked their way closer, but Austin Richie hit a three-pointer with 10:33 remaining to make it 52-44, and Stainbrook would finish a three-point play at the 9:51 mark to give the Broncos an 11-point lead.

NIU continued to climb back, though, and eventually pulled to within 55-53 with 7:03 remaining. However, the Broncos' offense began to click again and were sparked to a 7-1 run when Hoerdemann hit a pair of free throws at the 6:52 mark. On the next WMU possession, Nate Hutcheson scored on a one-handed dunk, and Hoerdemann would drain his fourth trey of the night just 37 seconds later to give the Broncos a 62-54 lead.

The two teams battled hard in the first half, with neither leading the other by more than five points at any time in the half. Nate Hutcheson opened the half with a trio of free throws at the 18:49 mark, but the Broncos would be without a field goal until Hutcheson charged baseline and threw down a two-handed dunk at the 15:21 mark. 

The Huskies maintained the lead, though, until Hoerdemann hit a three from the left corner at the 13:34 mark to give the Broncos a 10-8 lead. After NIU's Tim Toler responded with a three of his own, Hoerdemann struck again, giving WMU a 13-11 lead. Hoerdemann would add one more for good measure at the 5:07 mark, with the Broncos' 26-21 lead their largest of the half. Hoerdemann finished the first half with 11 points, already just one shy of his season and career high.

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — A strong second-half effort by Central Michigan University was too much for the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team to overcome in a 60-56 loss to the Chippewas here Wednesday, Jan. 11,  in the Convocation Center in a Mid-American Conference West Division game.

Central came back from a 25-19 halftime deficit to take a late seven-point lead with 2:34 left in the game, but the Eagles would not quit, cutting the deficit to two, 58-56, with 11.6 seconds left on a layup by freshman guard Antoine Chandler (Windsor, Ont., Canada-W.F. Herman).

Eastern then fouled guard Austin McBroom and the Chippewa guard made both free throws and the Eagles could not answer as Central walked off with the four-point win.

Eastern, now 6-10 overall and 1-1 in the MAC, had four players in double figures, led by junior forward Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid) with 12 points while senior guard Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Dearborn Heights Robichaud) with 11 and guards Austin Harper (Grand Haven, Mich.-Grand Haven-Glen Oaks C.C.) and  Darrell Lampley (Linden, N.J.-Linden-Lakeland C.C.) scored 10 each.

Central Michigan, which improves to 7-8 overall and 2-0 in the MAC, was led by Derek Jackson with 15, Austin McBroom with 13 and Trey Zeigler with 11 points.

 

The Eagles shot 42.9 percent from the field, making 21-of-49 shots while CMU was held to 39.2 percent, making 20-of-51 attempts.  EMU won the battle of the boards, 35-30, but Central won the free-throw contest, making 13-of-21 while EMU made 10-of-15.

The Eagles raced to a 6-1 lead in the first three minutes on a jumper from Lampley, a layup from Harper and two free throws from Harris.

Eastern would continue that five-point edge with a jumper by Harris to make it 8-3, at the 14:19 mark.

Both teams had problems finding their shooting touch over the next four minutes before Central would break the drought on two straight layups to cut the EMU lead to one, 8-7, with 10:13 left in the half.

The two teams would trade baskets over the next seven minutes with EMU holding a slim, 19-17, lead with 3:13 remaining in the half.

The Eagles would crank up the offense over the final three minutes, building a 25-17 lead with 57.8 left on a monster dunk by Harris, but CMU would close out the first-half scoring on a hook by Zach Saylor to make it 25-19 EMU's lead.

EMU would shoot 47.6 percent for the first half, hitting 10-of-21 attempts while holding CMU to just 30.8 percent on 8-of-26. Eastern would also hold the rebound edge, 19-13.

Central came out of halftime and made up the deficit in the first three minutes, tying the game at 25-all at the 18:21 mark.

The lead would see-saw throughout much of the rest of the second half with neither team able to gain a clear advantage until

CMU would build up a 45-38 lead with 8:36 left on a long three at the shot-clock buzzer by Jackson.

The Eagles would fight back to cut the Chippewa lead two, 50-48, on a triple by Lampley with 4:17 left, but Jackson would hit a huge three for CMU at the 2:34 mark to put CMU up, 55-48.

A layup by Green with 38.9 seconds left would pull the Eagles within four, 56-52, but the Eagles were forced to foul the rest of the way and the visitors made their free throws to record the 60-56 win.

The Eagles will stay in MAC West Division play Saturday, Jan. 14, when they travel to Muncie, Ind. for a 2 p.m. game against the Ball State University Cardinals.