Saturday's MAC Men's Basketball Results
Akron 77, Eastern Michigan 47
Kent State 78, Western Michigan 73 (OT)
Buffalo 72, Toledo 65
Bowling Green 65, Northern Illinois 40
Ohio 68, Central Michigan 42
Miami 59, Ball State 53
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Akron 77, Eastern Michigan 47
Boxscore
AKRON, Ohio – Chauncey Gilliam scored 13 points and Nikola Cvetinovic had 12 points and seven rebounds to guide Akron to an easy 77-47 win over Eastern Michigan in Mid-American Conference action on Saturday night at Rhodes Arena.
That duo combined to make 10-of-19 shots from the field (Gilliam 5-of-9) as two of four Akron (16-7, 8-1 MAC) players to score in double-figures.
Zeke Marshall and Brett McClanahan scored 11 points apiece for the Zips. Marshall continued his assault on the MAC record book, moving into sixth place on the career blocked shots list with his 224th swat (four tonight).
The victory, UA's fifth straight and 13th in the last 15 games, gave eighth-year Akron head coach Keith Dambrot his 178 win at UA and tied him with former coach Tony Laterza (1960-68) for second place on the school's all-time wins list.
Matt Balkema led Eastern Michigan (10-13, 5-4 MAC) with 15 points and six rebounds.
The game got off to a slow start with both teams trying to feel each other out. However, it was Akron that grabbed a 10-point lead (17-7) with 11:07 to go in the first half. From there, the Zips would go on a 14-2 run over the next 3:46 to open up a 31-9 advantage by the 7:21 mark.
Akron held Eastern Michigan to just seven points the rest of the half and would take a 39-16 lead into the locker room.
Cvetinovic lead all scorers in the half with eight points and four rebounds. Gilliam and Marshall each had seven points while Walsh led all players with six boards.
The Zips shot 44.8 percent in the half (13-of-29) while holding a 23-15 advantage on the boards. Akron's defense held EMU to just 20.0 percent shooting from the floor (4-of-20) and forced 15 turnovers.
Akron pushed its lead to as many as 26 points (50-24) over the first 8:23 and the Zips maintained a 50-29 lead by the under-12 media timeout (11:37).
EMU began to chip away at the Akron advantage, cutting the lead to 15 points (52-37) with 8:53 left in the game. The 15-point deficit was the smallest for the Eagles since the 9:03 mark of the first half (24-9). Akron would quickly push its lead back to 20-points and would eventually lead by as many as 31 (73-42).
Akron hits the road for one game when it travels to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face Western Michigan on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game will air live on SportsTime Ohio.
Kent State 78, Western Michigan 73 (OT)
Boxscore
KENT, Ohio – Kent State (16-6; 6-3 MAC) gutted out another hard fought victory over Western Michigan (10-13; 4-5 MAC) posting a 78-73 overtime win in a Mid-American Conference contest at the M.A.C. Center on Saturday night. Behind double-digit scoring performances by four players, the Golden Flashes claimed their fourth-straight victory.
After a junior guard Randal Holt (Cleveland, Ohio) (13 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to help erase a five point deficit with just over two minutes remaining, junior forward Chris Evans (Chesapeake, Va.) dominated overtime scoring nine of his 18 points. Senior forward Justin Greene (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would lead the team with 19 points, while senior guard Carlton Guyton (Chicago, Ill.) added 14 in the Golden Flashes eighth straight home win.
Down 61-56 with 2:11 remaining, Greene hit for two of his 13 second half points at the foul line to make it a one possession game. Following a turnover by the Broncos caused by an offensive charge draw by senior guard Michael Porrini (Massillon, Ohio), Holt tied the game at 61-61 with his second three-pointer of the game from the right corner. Demetrius Ward then missed a jumper for Western Michigan, which set up Holt once more who gave Kent State a 64-61 lead with 1:27 left to play.
The lead was short lived as Matt Stainbrook evened the score with a lay-in and a foul shot with a minute remaining. The two teams exchanged misses in the time remaining, but neither found the bottom of the net as the game went into overtime.
In overtime, Evans posted his second ESPN Top 10 worthy dunk of the night scoring through traffic for and offensive rebounds and put back dunk. With the Kent State defense keeping Western Michigan off the board Evans capitalized at the foul line scoring the game’s next four points to stake the Golden Flashes to a 70-64 lead with a minute and a half to go in the extra period. Holt then pushed the margin to eight with a key block and fast break lay-up.
The Broncos managed to stay in the game just enough and drew within three points after a 3-pointer with 13 seconds to play before a key hustle play by Porrini helped seal the win. Porrini closed out his night with eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Buffalo 72, Toledo 65
Boxscore
The University at Buffalo men's basketball team erased a 13-point second-half deficit to beat Toledo, 72-65, at Savage Arena on Saturday night.
Titus Robinson sparked the Bulls with 14 points and five rebounds.
Full story will be posted shortly.
Bowling Green 65, Northern Illinois 40
Boxscore
Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green men’s basketball team won by at least 20 points for the second consecutive conference game, blowing out Northern Illinois 65-40 Saturday night in the Stroh Center. The win came on the heels of a 72-48 road win over Western Michigan just three days earlier.
Jordon Crawford had 15 points and six assists, Scott Thomas had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Torian Oglesby came off the bench for six points and seven rebounds as the Falcons put the game away early.
Bowling Green scored the first 10 points of the game, held Northern Illinois without a field goal until more the seven minutes had elapsed, and took a 25-point lead into the break. The Huskies never threatened and were held to just 29 percent shooting, the fourth straight game in which the Falcons held an opponent below 40 percent.
Four different players scored Bowling Green’s first four baskets as the Falcons went ahead 10-0. After Northern Illinois split a pair of free-throws, Thomas hit a jumper and a three-pointer, followed by a Dee Brown three-point play to make it 18-1.
Northern Illinois finally made a basket on Aksel Bolin’s jumper with 12:16 to go but the Falcons pushed the lead to 20 on two Thomas free-throws, a Torian Oglesby lay-up and a Chauncey Orr free-throw. From there, the Falcons went on a dunking spree for the rest of the period, culminating with an Oglesby alley-oop with just three seconds remaining for a 41-16 halftime lead.
Bowling Green shot 60 percent in the first half and made 3-of-7 three-pointers, but in the second half, the Falcons’ offense sputtered. BGSU shot only 31 percent from the floor but kept Northern Illinois at bay by turning the ball over only four times and going to the free-throw line 21 times.
For the game, Bowling Green shot 49 percent from the floor but made only 21-of-34 free-throws (62 percent). The 34 free-throw attempts were the most for the team since attempting 35 in an 83-70 win over Buffalo on Jan. 17, 2008.
Bowling Green rolled to the win despite the team’s leading scorer A’uston Calhoun being held without a field goal. He did score five points at the free-throw line and blocked a shot. In all, 13 Falcons saw court time and 11 registered at least eight minutes. The BGSU bench outscored NIU’s 19-9.
With the loss, Northern Illinois falls to 2-19 overall and 1-8 in MAC play. Bowling Green improves to 11-11 overall and 5-4 in conference action. The Falcons will look for their first three-game winning streak Wednesday as the team travels to Muncie to face Ball State (12-9, 4-5 MAC) at 7 p.m.
Ohio 68, Central Michigan 42
Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio - Junior guard Walter Offutt scored 12 of his game-high 17 points in the second half to lead the Ohio University men's basketball team (19-4; 7-2 MAC) to a 68-42 victory over Central Michigan Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Joining Offutt (Indianapolis, Ind.) in double figures was sophomore guard Nick Kellogg (Columbus, Ohio) as he tallied 14 points, going 5-of-11 from the field. Offutt's 17-point performance marked the 16th time this season he has scored in double figures.
Junior guard D.J. Cooper (Chicago, Ill.) also turned in a strong performance as he just missed his second triple double of the season as he closed with nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists. His seven rebounds were a team-best.
The Bobcats held Central Michigan to season-lows of 42 points and 28.8 percent shooting from the field. Ohio shot 40 percent from the field for the game, but hit at a 50 percent clip from the field during the second half, including a 70 percent mark from 3-point range during the final 20 minutes.
With the win, Ohio improved to 12-1 at home and 18-8 against MAC West teams since John Groce took over as head coach. The win was also Ohio's sixth straight triumph.
Ohio jumped out to an early 9-1 advantage thanks to three straight 3-pointers. Central Michigan trimmed Ohio's lead to four at 15-11 with 10:16 to go until the break, but that was as close as the Chippewas would get for the remainder of the first half.
The Bobcats followed Central Michigan's run with an 11-3 charge, which gave Ohio a 26-14 lead at the 4:55 mark of the first half. Cooper scored four points during the stretch.
CMU came right back with six straight point to cut the Bobcats' lead back to single digits, but Ohio went on to hold the Chippewas scoreless for the remainder of the half and took a 33-20 lead into the locker room.
Ohio held a 22-19 rebounding advantage and forced CMU into nine turnovers.
Cooper led all first half scorers as he poured in nine points on 2-of-5 shooting. He also connected on 4-of-5 shots from the free throw line.
In the second half, Ohio's lead never fell below double digits. Offutt had the hot hand for the Bobcats coming out of the locker room as he connected on three 3-pointers to give Ohio an 18-point lead (46-28) with 13:38 to go in the game.
The Bobcats led by as many as 26 points in the second half as they went on to secure the win.
Ohio returns to action on Wednesday as it heads north to take on Toledo, beginning at 7 p.m.
Miami 59, Ball State 53
Boxscore
MUNCIE, Ind.-- A 16-point halftime lead set the tone for the rest of the afternoon for Miami University's men's basketball team (7-14, 3-6 Mid-American Conference), who took home a 59-53 victory over Ball State (12-9, 4-5 MAC) on Saturday. Freshman guard Brian Sullivan led all scorers with 18 points. The win marks the first time this season that the RedHawks have won back-to-back games.
Senior forward Julian Mavunga scored 10 points while leading the team in rebounds with 10, giving him his 13th double-double on the season and 27 for his career. It was his fourth straight game with a double-double, matching his season-high streak. Mavunga also tallied a game-high-tying five assists in the winning effort.
Sophomore guard Quinten Rollins added 14 points and senior forward Adam Thomas, coming off of a big performance against Eastern Michigan, played a career-high 25 minutes and scored eight points, also a career-high.
As a team, the RedHawks hauled in a season-high 29 defensive rebounds as well as tying a season-best 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Miami jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead in the opening minutes thanks to six points from Rollins and a 3-pointer from Thomas. Ball State tied it up at 11-11 at the 11:47 mark, but the RedHawks surged forward with a 9-2 scoring run that was capped off by a layup from sophomore center Drew McGhee.
The Cardinals fought back to make it 20-16 with 5:15 left in the half, but the RedHawks exploded to the tune of a 14-2 run to end the first half. Twelve of the 14 points came from behind the arc, thanks to Rollins, Thomas and Brian Sullivan. That made the score 34-18 in favor of the RedHawks heading into halftime. The 16-point halftime lead was by far the biggest Miami has had this season.
Ball State started quickly in the second half, scoring 12 points to Miami's five and making the score 39-30. The RedHawks tried to pull away yet again extending their lead back to double-digits, 46-32, but the Cardinals would not back down. A 7-0 scoring surge brought Ball State back within seven, 46-39, with 6:42 remaining.
With just over two minutes left, Rollins drilled a wide open 3-pointer to make the score 54-42 and seemingly put the finishing touches on a Miami victory. Ball State, however, scored nine straight points to come within three, 54-51, with 24 seconds left. Miami, however, nailed its free throws to come away with a 59-53 victory.
The RedHawks will stay on the road for their next game, heading to Northern Illinois to take on the Huskies on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (ET).