Saturday's MAC Men's Basketball Results

ATHENS, Ohio- On a day dedicated to former Ohio great Gary Trent, the Ohio men's basketball team (15-4; 3-2 MAC) pulled out a nail biter, defeating rival Miami 69-65 Saturday afternoon in front of over 13,000 fans in the Convocation Center.

Junior forward Ivo Baltic (Kansas City, Mo.) scored a game-high 20 points to lead Ohio. He was also one of four Bobcat players in double figures. Baltic's 20-point effort marked the 10th-consecutive game in which he has reached double figures.

Joining Baltic in double figures were junior guard Walter Offutt (Indianapolis, Ind.) with 15, junior guard D.J. Cooper (Chicago, Ill.) with 13 and junior forward Reggie Keely (University Heights, Ohio) with 11.

Ohio held a 32-29 rebounding edge with junior forward Jon Smith (Columbus, Ohio) leading the way with six rebounds.

Miami jumped out to a 22-10 lead with 10:00 minutes remaining in the first half behind five 3-pointers, including a pair of threes for Josh Sewell and Brian Sullivan. Ohio battled back going on a 13-5 run of its own to cut the Redhawks lead to 27-23 behind four points from Baltic and sophomore forward T.J. Hall (Gainesville, Fla.). Miami led at half 37-31.

During halftime Gary Trent's stellar career as a Bobcat was honored and his #20 jersey was retired and hung from the Convocation Center rafters. The 3-time MAC Player of the Year is the fourth player in Ohio University history to have his jersey retired.

Offutt led Ohio in scoring with 13 points at the break as the team shot 43 percent from the field. Baltic joined Offutt in double figures scoring 10. The Bobcats out-rebounded Miami 14-12 including pulling down seven offensive boards. On the defensive end Ohio forced Miami into committing six turnovers.

Sullivan led Miami, scoring 11 points while going 3-for-3 from deep. As a team the Redhawks shot 67 percent from the field and hit 8-of-11 triples (73 percent).

The Bobcats opened the second half on a 16-8 run to take the lead 47-45 with 10:22 remaining in the game. Keely led the charge scoring nine points. Miami answered opening up an eight point, 59-51 lead thanks to another Sullivan triple and four points from Quinten Rollins.

The Bobcats once again answered going on a 13-4 run capped off by an Offutt steal and layup to retake the lead 64-63 with 52 seconds to play. With just under 20 seconds to play, Offutt followed his own shot pulling in a critical offensive rebound.

Sophomore guard Nick Kellogg (Westerville, Ohio) made two free throws, his first points of the day, and Cooper hit 3-of-4 foul shots down the stretch to guarantee Ohio the victory.

Keely led the Bobcats in the second half, scoring all 11 of his points, while Cooper added 10 points in the final 20 minutes. Ohio shot 52 percent from the field in the second half, compared to Miami's 38.7 percent from the field.

The Bobcats were also tough defensively, holding the Redhawks to 16.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

The Bobcats return to the Convo to face Western Michigan on Wednesday, January 25. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 pm and will be televised on STO.

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team kept a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division lead with a nail-biting 41-38 win over the University of Toledo here Saturday, Jan. 21, afternoon at the Convocation Center.

With the score tied at 36-all with 3:05 left in the game, senior guard Quintin Dailey (Las Vegas, Nev.-Bishop Gorman-Sheridan C.C.)  hit his second consecutive three-point field goal to put the Eagles up by three, 39-36. 

EMU junior forward Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid) would then slam home a dunk with 2:20 left to boost EMU to a 41-36 advantage.

Toledo's Rian Pearson would cut the lead to three, 41-38, on a layup with 1:56 left and that score would hold for a final.

Toledo had one shot to tie the game with nine seconds left, but it fell short and EMU controlled the rebound and held on to the ball for the victory.

The 4-1 MAC start by Head Coach Rob Murphy's Eagles is the best for an EMU team since the 1996-97 squad posted a 4-1 start. EMU is 9-10 overall.

Eastern did not have a player in double figures as Darrell Lampley (Linden, N.J.-Linden-Lakeland C.C.) had nine points with Harris adding eight and Matt Balkema (Warren, Mich.-Cousino) finishing with seven points and eight rebounds.

Toledo, now 9-10 overall and 1-4 in MAC action, was led by Rian Pearson with 12.

Eastern would finish the game shooting 32.6 percent, making 15-of-46 shots from the field while Toledo made just 30 percent of its attempts, hitting 15-of-50.  Eastern also held a large, 40-27, rebound advantage.

The two teams suffered through some poor shooting and sloppy ball handling in the first half.

Eastern would jump out to a 10-4 lead through the first nine minutes of the game.

Toledo would then respond with a 10-0 run to go up 14-10 with 6:38 left.

Eastern would finally break a seven-minute scoreless streak with two free throws by Lampley to make it 14-12 at the 4:41 mark.

The last scoring of the half came at the 3:41 mark when EMU's Derek Thompson (Detroit, Mich.-Melvindale-SEMO) hit a long three to give the Eagles a 15-14 lead into intermission.

EMU would shoot just 25 percent in the first half, making 5-of-20 field-goal attempts while Toledo was shooting just 21.7 percent on 5-of-23.  Eastern turned it over 11 times while Toledo had eight.  The Eagles held a 19-14 rebound edge in the first half.

The offense picked up a touch at the beginning of the second half as Eastern went up by four, 24-20, with 14:07 left on a triple by Lampley.

Toledo would answer that surge with five consecutive points of its own for a 25-24 lead at the 13:20 mark.

Eastern would build several leads over the next few minutes, but the Rockets continued to have answers and came back to tie the game at 36-all on a triple by Brown with 4:50 remaining.

The Eagles will stay begin a six-game swing into MAC East Division play with a Tuesday, Jan. 24, game at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team used a 14-1 run to start the second half to turn a halftime deficit into a 12-point lead, and the Broncos held off the rival Central Michigan Chippewas 64-61 at University Arena on Saturday. With the win, the Broncos improve to 9-10 on the season, with a 3-2 record in the Mid-American Conference. CMU falls to 7-11, 2-3 in the MAC.

In the victory, senior point guard Mike Douglas finished with 13 points and four assists, the last of which pushed him past Brian Snider for sole possession of second place on the program's career assists list. Douglas had 407 career assists, and needs 20 more to reach Billy Stanback's program record of 427 career assists.

Douglas was one of four Broncos to reach double-digit scoring against the Chippewas, including Nate Hutcheson (17), Flenard Whitfield (12), and Matt Stainbrook (11). Stainbrook had a game-high nine rebounds, narrowly missing out on his third double-double of the season.

The Broncos entered halftime trailing the Chippewas 33-32, but came out firing in the second half to take the lead. Stainbrook got things started with a lay-up at the 18:19 mark to give the Broncos the lead, and Whitfield scored on two consecutive possessions to give the Broncos a 38-33 lead with 17:16 remaining. Douglas would be the next in on the act, swiping a ball on the defensive end and draining a three-pointer from the wing to make it 41-33.

Hutcheson followed with a trey at the 16:19 mark to extend the lead to double digits, and Stainbrook capped the run with a pair of free throws at the 15:03 mark to give WMU a 46-34 lead. The Broncos kept the lead at double-digits as late as the 4:49 mark of the second half, when Demetrius Ward drilled a triple from the right corner give WMU a 61-50 lead. The Chippewas pulled to within three points with 2:21 remaining, but the Broncos were able to hold them off, with Whitfield grabbing a defensive rebound with 15 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

The first half was back and forth for the most part, with the Chippewas able to string together enough scoring runs to keep the lead going into half. The Broncos took their first lead of the day when Whitfield hit a turnaround hook shot at the 15:33 mark to make it 7-5, but CMU battled their way back. The Broncos actually led by as many as eight points at one point, when Whitfield hit another jumper to give WMU a 24-16 lead with 5:59 remaining in the half. However, CMU took the lead with less than a minute remaining on a Derek Jackson three-pointer.

Bowling Green, Ohio – For the second consecutive home game, the Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team lost a game that was decided on the final possession as Buffalo held off the Falcons 68-66 Saturday afternoon in the Stroh Center.

 

In a game that featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes, Jordon Crawford’s coast-to-coast lay-up attempt after a race against the clock was swatted away by Buffalo’s Mitchell Watt to preserve a two-point win.

 

A’uston Calhoun scored the last of his career-high 29 points with 46 seconds left to get Bowling Green within two points. The Falcons came up with a steal on Buffalo’s next possession but Cam Black was unable to score on a jumper. Bowling Green fouled Buffalo’s Dave Barnett with 5.5 seconds left but he missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Calhoun grabbed the rebound and got the ball to Crawford, who raced up the floor and got to the rim. His lay-up attempt came in time but Watt, who ranks second in the Mid-American conference in blocked shots, was waiting to reject the shot as time ran out.

 

The loss overshadowed Calhoun’s career night. He went 12-of-17 shooting to finish with 29 points and added eight rebounds and two assists, while making all five of his free-throw attempts.

 

The game was close throughout although Buffalo set the tone early. The Bulls had dunks on their first three baskets and jumped ahead 6-0. The Falcons, though, quickly got things corrected and went on a 9-2 run to take the lead on a Scott Thomas lay-up. Neither team led by more than three points for the remainder of the half and the Falcons went into the break with a 27-26 lead.

 

Bowling Green began to pull away early in the second half and built a 40-33 lead on a Thomas three-pointer with 14:54 to go. But Buffalo began to turn things around by rebounding with increased fervor and knocking down jump shots. The Falcons had a 22-16 edge on the boards in the first half and held Buffalo to just 1-of-11 three-pointers, but the Bulls got things going in both areas.

 

A Tony Watson three-pointer got Buffalo back within two and a Dave Barnett three-ball tied the score at 46-46 with 9:31 to play. The Bulls went on to make their first seven three-point attempts of the second half and posted a 20-13 rebounding lead in the second half to turn the seven point deficit into a 61-53 lead with 5:29 to play.

 

Bowling Green, though, did not give up, getting a lay-up from Cam Black and a three-point play from Calhoun to close back within three. Buffalo led 63-58 when the Falcons went on a 6-0 run to take a 64-63 lead with 1:47 to play on a pair of Calhoun free-throws.

 

Buffalo quickly answered back with a Javon McCrea dunk and then Barnett knocked down a three-pointer with 57 seconds left to give the Bulls a 68-64 lead before the final heroics.

 

Along with Calhoun’s 29 points, Dee Brown had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, making all six of his free-throw attempts. Thomas posted 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals. Crawford finished with six assists and just two turnovers.

 

McCrea led Buffalo with 16 points and 13 rebounds but Bowling Green shut down the top three-point shooter in the MAC, Zach Filzen. Filzen went scoreless and was 0-for-6 on three-pointers.

 

Buffalo improves to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in MAC play. Bowling Green falls to 8-10 and 2-3 in conference action. The Falcons will begin crossover play Wednesday when the team hosts Central Michigan at 7 p.m. in a game televised on BCSN.

AKRON, Ohio – Nick Harney scored 21 points, 19 in the second half, to lead Akron to an 84-75 comeback win over neighborhood rival and Mid-American Conference East Division opponent Kent State on Saturday night in front of a sold out Rhodes Arena crowd and SportsTime Ohio television audience.

Harney, who went 10-of-12 from the field, played just 14 minutes and was one of three Akron (12-7, 4-1 MAC) players to post double-figure points as Chauncey Gilliam scored 11 and Brian Walsh 10. Zeke Marshall finished with seven points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots for the Zips, while Alex Abreu had seven assists compared to just one turnover.

Randall Holt led Kent State (12-6, 2-3 MAC) with a game-high 27 points.

The win earned UA one half point in the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge to pull the Zips within 3.5-2.5 of KSU in the rivalry series standings.

Kent State pushed its lead to 10 points on several occasions in the second half before a Brett McClanahan 3-pointer at the 12:50 mark cut the KSU advantage to 55-49. Quincy Diggs hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 55-all with 11:38 left in the game. The consecutive long balls capped off an Akron 12-2 run (1:58).

Nikola Cvetinovic gave Akron its first lead of the second half at 58-55 (11:02) with Akron's fourth 3-pointer in a row. That lead would be cut to one point before back-to-back buckets by Gilliam gave Akron it's largest lead of the game (66-59) with 7:34 on the clock. The buckets capped off a 23-6 run over a 6:16 period.

The Zips kept the pressure on KSU, pushing its advantage to 74-61 with 5:23 left thanks to six-straight points by Harney.

The Zips led by as much as 78-63 with 3:37 to play following a Harney lay-in and held the margin to double-digits until a pair of Holt buckets with less than a minute to play cut it to nine 82-73 and 84-75.

The Zips grabbed an early 6-0 lead in the first 1:36 of the game, but the Golden Flashes responded with six points of their own to tie the game with 16:58 left in the opening half.

Akron and Kent State spent the next 10:53 trading baskets, with neither team gaining a lead of more than three points. The Zips ended the run by forcing a Golden Flashes timeout after two fast break buckets to open up a 28-23 lead with 6:05 on the first half clock.

KSU closed the half on a 19-4 run over the final six minutes before Abreu hit two free throws with 1.1 second left to send UA to the locker room down 42-34.

A big story of the half was Akron's 11 turnovers (Kent State, 3), which Kent State converted into 20 points. Both teams shot the ball well, with the Zips connecting on 48.3 percent from the floor (14-of-29) and the Golden Flashes shooting 47.2 percent (17-of-36).

Akron got its turnover issue in check during the second half, giving up the ball only four times after the break and finished the night with 21 assists.

The Zips open the West Division swing of their MAC schedule on Tuesday when they travel to Muncie, Ind., to face Ball State. Catch the game live on SportsTime Ohio beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

DEKALB, Ill. – The Ball State men’s basketball team completed its first run through the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 4-1 record as the Cardinals posted a 75-65 victory over Northern Illinois Saturday night at the Convocation Center. The Cardinals are tied for the top spot in the MAC West Division with Eastern Michigan.

“Tonight was really a hard fought game,” head coach Billy Taylor said. “We knew coming into this game that Northern Illinois would play hard for 40 minutes. We wanted our guys to battle for 40 minutes and we did that tonight. Both teams play tough half-court defense so we wanted to get out in transition which we were able to do tonight, especially late in the first half.”

Senior forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) paced four Cardinals in double figures in the victory as he scored a team-high 17 points while grabbing eight rebounds and recording three blocked shots. Sophomore forward Chris Bond (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) chipped in 14 points as he was 4-of-6 from the field and hit all six of his free throws.

Senior guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) rounded out the double figure scorers as he tallied 11 points. Davis, who leads the NCAA Division I in assist/turnover ratio (3.70), handed out a game-high six assists while only committing one turnover. Sophomore guard Jesse Berry (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) added 12 points off the bench in 26 minutes, including a pair of three-pointers.

The two teams battled back-and-forth for most of the first half with the Huskies taking a 21-16 lead with 7:39 left in the half. The Cardinals answered with five straight to tie the game as Davis nailed a three-pointer and Jones scored in the paint to tie the game at 21-21.

Ball State (12-5, 4-1 MAC) closed the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 37-28 lead into the locker room. Bond scored four points in the run while Davis nailed a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the half.

Ball State connected on 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from the field and 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from three-point land. The Cardinals were led by Davis who scored nine first half points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep while Bond and Jones each added six points. Northern Illinois connected on 40.0 percent (10-of-25) from the field and 37.5 percent (3-of-8) from long range. Aksel Bolin and Abdel Nader each scored eight points in the first half to pace the Huskies.

The Cardinals came out of the halftime break and extended their lead to a game-high 15 points at 50-35. Sophomore Tyler Koch (Winchester, Ind./Wright State) opened the half with a three-pointer while Jones posted four straight points to force Northern Illinois into a timeout.

The Huskies responded with a 10-0 run to force the Cardinals into a timeout. Ball State responded to the adversity as Bond and Jones scored on consecutive possessions before Koch nailed a three-pointer to extend the lead back to double figures.

Northern Illinois (2-15, 1-4 MAC) tried to make a late comeback as Nader started to catch fire from long range in the second half as he scored 18 points, including four three-pointers. The Cardinals had an answer for Nader though as they found big shots down the stretch, including a key three-pointer from Jones with 2:53 left in the game as the shot clock ran down to thwart the comeback attempt.

Ball State finished the game shooting 54.0 percent (27-of-50) from the field and 40 percent (8-of-20) from long range. Northern Illinois was limited to 43.4 percent (23-of-53) shooting from the field and 40 percent (8-of-20) from long range.

Koch finished the game with eight points and five rebounds in 33 minutes of action while sophomore Tyrae Robinson (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) added eight points in the victory. Northern Illinois was led by Nader’s 26 points as he was the only Huskie in double figures in the loss.

The Cardinals begin MAC crossover play Tuesday night as they host reigning MAC Tournament champion Akron. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena and will be broadcast by SportsTime Ohio and Comcast Indiana.