Wednesday's MAC Men's Basketball Results
Akron 86, Toledo 72
Buffalo 73, Ball State 57
Bowling Green 72, Western Michigan 48
Miami 62, Eastern Michigan 57 (OT)
Ohio 67, Northern Illinois 58
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Akron 86, Toledo 72
Boxscore
AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips extended its winning streak to four games thanks to an 86-72 victory of the Toledo Rockets on Wednesday night in a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional matchup at Rhodes Arena.
The streak is the third four-game winning streak on the season for the Zips (15-7, 7-1 MAC) and the win is the 12th victory in the last 14 games. The win also marked No. 100 at Rhodes Arena for eighth year head coach Keith Dambrot (100-16).
Five players reached double figures, lead by Quincy Diggs' 16 points. Alex Abreu and Zeke Marshall pitched in with 14 points each while Chauncey Gilliam finished the game with 11 points. Nikola Cvetinovic recorded his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 boards.
Akron shot a season-high 60.0 percent form the field (30-of-50) and shot 42.1 percent from long range (8-of-19). The Zips held a 31-28 advantage on the boards and had 15 assists to 18 turnovers.
Rian Pearson led the way for Toledo (10-12, 2-6 MAC) with game highs in points (29) and rebounds (12).
Toledo began to chip away at the Akron lead, closing to within four points (48-44) with 15:58 left in the game. That lead would dip to three points (51-50) by the 13:33 mark on a dunk by Rian Pearson, who was charged with a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
The technical would spark the Zips offense as Akron would score the next nine points to take a 60-50 lead and force a Toledo timeout with 11:58 left in the game.
McClanahan hit his second 3-pointer in as many possessions to give Akron a 63-52 lead at the under-12 media timeout (11:29). The bucket capped off a 12-2 run. Akron's lead would not drop below eight points from that point.
The game remained scoreless for most of the first two minutes of the game before Abreu opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the elbow (18:05). The Zips' offense would take the cue from the sophomore point guard and push their lead to 15-6 by the 13:44 mark.
After Toledo cut the Akron advantage to 17-12 with 11:45 left in the half, the Zips used a 14-5 run to grab a 31-17 lead. The run forced the Rockets to call their second timeout of the first half (7:19).
UT answered with a run of its own, rattling off 10-straight points to cut the UA lead to 31-27 with 4:03 left before intermission. Marshall's hook shot and free throw with 3:45 left in the half ended the run and pushed the Akron advantage back to seven points (34-27).
The Zips would the next five points and take a 43-34 lead into the locker room. Marshall led the Zips with 11 points and four rebounds. Gilliam had nine points while Diggs finished the half with eight points.
For the half, Akron shot 54.8 percent from the floor (17-of-31) and held a 16-10 advantage on the boards. The Zips forced 11 Toledo turnovers and had eight assists.
Buffalo 73, Ball State 57
Boxscore
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Despite a game-high 21 points from senior forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City), the Ball State men's basketball team suffered a 73-57 loss to Mid-American Conference foe Buffalo Wednesday night at Alumni Arena. The Bulls opened the second half on a 24-10 run to improve to 6-2 in MAC play while the Cardinals fell to 4-4 in league action.
Jones reached the 20-point mark for the 10th time this season as he scored 21 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. He was 8-of-16 from the field and hit all four free throws but was the only Cardinal in double figures in the loss. Ball State only hit 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the field in the loss and just 20 percent (4-of-20) from long range.
Buffalo connected on 64.0 percent (16-of-25) from the field in the second half, including 70 percent (7-of-10) from three-point land as it scored 44 second half points. Mitchell Watt led three Bulls in double figures with 20 points and seven rebounds while Zach Filzen added 14 points.
The two teams battled back and forth for most of the first half with Buffalo holding a 21-16 lead with just over six minutes left in the half. Watt was the offensive catalyst for the Bulls in the early going as he scored 10 of the Bulls' first 21 points.
Ball State answered back with six straight points to take its first lead at 22-21 with 3:06 left. Jones scored four points in the run as he went to work in the post while sophomore Tyler Koch (Winchester, Ind./Wright State) scored in the paint.
Buffalo closed the first half on an 8-2 run over the final 3:06 to take a 29-24 lead into the locker room. The Bulls got back-to-back three-pointers from Auraum Nuiriankh and Filzen to take the lead back before Titus Robinson and sophomore Tyrae Robinson (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) traded baskets in the final minute.
Ball State connected on just 37.0 percent (10-of-27) from the field and only 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from three-point land in the first half. Jones led the Cardinals with nine points while Koch added six points in the half. Buffalo connected on 44.0 percent (11-of-25) from the field and 33.3 percent (3-of-9) from long range. The Bulls also owned a 20-13 edge on the glass in the first half.
After an opening basket by Jones cut the lead to four points, Buffalo posted a 10-2 run to extend the lead back to double digits. Filzen ignited the spurt as he hit two straight three-pointers, including one in transition off a Cardinals' turnover.
Ball State tried to stay close to the Bulls but each time the Cardinals made a basket in the second half, Buffalo responded with a run of its own as it extended the lead to a game-high 22 points at 71-49 with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
Sophomore Jesse Berry (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) scored nine points in his first start of the season as he was 3-of-10 from the field. Robinson finished with eight points and five assists off the bench while Koch chipped in six points.
Bowling Green 72, Western Michigan 48
Boxscore
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team found itself unable to keep pace with hot-shooting Bowling Green, and the Broncos fell 72-48 to the Falcons at University Arena on Wednesday. The win snaps the Broncos' nine-game home winning streak and drops them to 10-12 overall, 4-4 in the Mid-American Conference.
The Falcons led the game by just two points heading into halftime but caught fire in the second half, making 12 of their first 13 shots en route to making the game a 20-point deficit. The Broncos struggled on the offensive end of the court, turning the ball over 22 times.
Shayne Whittington was the leading scorer for the Broncos, notching 12 points and also six rebounds. Mike Douglas added 10 points and four assists; he needs just six more assists to become the Western Michigan program's career leader in the category. Flenard Whitfield had nine points and eight rebounds as the Broncos out-rebounded Bowling Green 33-25.
The first half started off well in the Broncos' favor, but the Falcons would fight back and make it a much tighter affair after the opening minutes. WMU opened the scoring with Whittington notching a lay-up at the 19:12 mark; in fact, the sophomore center would be responsible for the first six points of the game for the Broncos, including capping a 6-1 run with a thunderous two-hander off a sharp pass from Whitfield.
WMU held the Falcons without a field goal until the 16:01 mark, and even then proceeded to control the pace of the game; WMU would lead 10-4 at the 14:16 mark on a Whitfield jumper, their largest lead of the half. However, Bowling Green pulled closer and cut the lead to one point on a Torian Oglesby dunk at the 9:38 mark; Dee Brown would drain a jumper at the 8:44 mark to give the Falcons the lead.
The Falcons looked to have control of the half heading into the halftime break, leading by six points with 3:45 remaining; however, Mike Douglas would score six straight points for the Broncos, including a jumper with 1:18 remaining to tie the score at 22 apiece. Brown would make another jumper with 36 seconds remaining to give BGSU a two-point lead at half.
The Falcons stretched their lead out to begin the second half, starting the half on a 12-4 run to give themselves a 36-26 lead at the first media timeout of the half. Bowling Green kept up the torrid pace, missing just one field goal in the first 12 minutes of the second half, to give themselves a 20-point lead.
Miami 62, Eastern Michigan 57
Boxscore
OXFORD, Ohio-- After mounting a furious comeback to send the game into overtime, a pair of electrifying dunks put an exclamation mark on a 62-57 Miami victory over Eastern Michigan Wednesday night at Millett Hall. Senior forward Julian Mavunga nearly registered a triple-double, leading the way with 19 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists.
Mavunga's double-double was his third straight, 12th of the season and the 26th of his career. The 19 rebounds and eight assists are also new career-highs. Sophomore guard Quinten Rollins was the only other RedHawk in double figures, registering 10 points.
Eastern Michigan (10-12, 5-3) led by 11, 45-34, with 3:28 left after a 5-0 run, but from there it was all RedHawks. Rollins and Mavunga knocked down another layup each and senior forward Adam Thomas added one of his own to bring the RedHawks within five, 45-40. With about a minute left, Rollins drove to the hoop and laid one in to bring Miami within three, 46-43. Sophomore forward Jon Harris then drilled a trey with 18 seconds left on the clock to tie the game at 46-46 and send the game into overtime and the Millett Hall crowd into a frenzy. A clutch defensive stop by the RedHawks ended regulation, assuring Miami overtime for the first time since its opening night victory over Dayton.
The Eagles got things started with a jumper from Da'Shonte Riley, but the RedHawks answered back with authority on a put-back dunk from Thomas. Two shots from the charity stripe for Brian Sullivan gave Miami a 50-48 lead, its first since the first half. An alley-oop from Mavunga to Thomas with about 90 seconds left on the clock brought the fans to their feet, and a thunderous dunk from Rollins sealed the deal for the RedHawks.
Eastern Michigan had jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and held Miami scoreless for the first three minutes of the game, but back-to-back layups from sophomore center Drew McGhee cut the lead to one point, 5-4. Two layups from the Eagles restored their five-point lead, 9-4, until another basket from McGhee made it 9-6. The shot from McGhee ended a Miami scoring drought of just over three minutes.
A jumper from Eastern Michigan's Darrell Lampley at the 10:56 mark to make the score 11-6 were the last points scored for nearly three and a half minutes, when a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Josh Sewell made it 11-9. The points were Miami's first in over four minutes. Sewell answered right back two possessions later with another trey to give the RedHawks their first lead of the game, 12-11. The Eagles then ended a scoring drought of their own to take the lead, 13-12 with just under five minutes left in the half.
Rollins laid one in and Mavunga knocked down four free throws to help Miami take a five-point lead, making the score 18-13 with 90 seconds until halftime. Both teams traded 3-pointers, freshman guard Brian Sullivan hitting one for the RedHawks, and Mavunga hit another freebie to take the Miami lead to six points, its largest of the game to that point. It didn't last long, as Eastern Michigan's Derek Thompson hit a desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer, making the halftime score 22-19 in favor of Miami.
The first half featured streaky shooting from both sides, with the RedHawks incurring three scoring droughts of three minutes or longer and the Eagles suffering through a six-minute drought midway through the half. Miami's lead could be attributed to its disciplined play, only registering three fouls and never sending Eastern Michigan to the charity stripe. In contrast, the Eagles committed 11 fouls which led to seven Miami free throw attempts.
The Eagles started the second half stronger than they did the first, this time jumping out to a 11-0 scoring run and retaking the lead, 30-22. Brian Sullivan busted the RedHawks' scoring slump with a 3-pointer, however, and made the score 30-25 with 14:22 remaining. Those were the first Miami points of the second half. After the Sullivan trey, the Eagles tore off another scoring run, this one 8-3, to take a 38-28 lead at the 8:20 mark. Including its buzzer-beater to end the first half, the run for Eastern Michigan totaled 22-6.
Ohio 67, Northern Illinois 58
Walter Offutt matched his career-high with 19 points and Ohio topped Northern Illinois this evening 67-58. Ohio led by as many as 20 in the second half as it improved to 18-4, 6-2 in Mid-American Conference play.
Nick Kellogg scored 12 points, all on three-pointers, as he reached double figures for the fourth time in MAC play. It was the first time the sophomore had scored in double figures since the win over Kent State. Stevie Taylor finished with eight points, his best total since December 23, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
Reggie Keely matched his best scoring total for the season in MAC play with 13 points. The junior corralled five of Ohio's 31 rebounds, while Jon Smith led the Bobcats with eight. Ivo Baltic snagged seven rebounds and also dished out a season-high six assists but was held without a field goal. Last year, Baltic poured in a career-high 31 against the Huskies.
Ohio trailed by seven early at 15-8 before going on an 8-0 run to reclaim the lead. Kellogg scored six points during the run as Ohio took a 16=15 lead with 8:50 remaining in the first half. The Bobcats took a one-point lead to the lockers, 27-26, as Offutt led the Green & White with seven points.
Ohio pounced on NIU in the second half as the Huskies went without a field goal for the first 6:26 of the stanza. During that time, Ohio built its lead to double figures and the 'Cats would coast to the finish line.
Ohio limited NIU to just 29 percent shooting from beyond the arc (6-21) and the Bobcats have now limited their opponents to fewer than 37 percent shooting from the field over the last three games.
Ohio also capitalized at the charity stripe, going 20-of-26 at the line, one shy of the season high for makes. Offutt alone was a perfect 9-for-9.