Saturday's MAC Men's Basketball Results

AKRON, Ohio – Three players scored in double figures to help the Akron Zips to its third sweep of the Mid-American Conference West Division in program history thanks to a 75-51 victory over Northern Illinois Saturday night at Rhodes Arena.

The sweep of the MAC West (6-0) is the second under eighth-year head coach Keith Dambrot and the first since 2005-06. Akron (18-7, 10-1 MAC) went 8-0 in cross-divisional play in 2005-06 and 1998-99. Including the 2011 MAC Tournament, Akron has won 11-straight against the West Division, nine-straight in the regular season.

Akron's 10-1 start to MAC play is the best in program history and in the first 10-1 start in league play for any team since 2005-06 season (Kent State).

Dambrot reached two milestones with the win, becoming the seventh coach to win 200 overall games as a MAC coach and the eighth coach to win 100 league games.

Nikola Cvetinovic led all players with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Nick Harney (12) and Demetrius Treadwell (11) also reached double figures. Treadwell added a game-high eight boards, including seven in the second half.

Keith Gray and Abdel Nader led NIU (3-20, 2-9 MAC) with 13 points each.

The Akron bench began to flex its muscle in the second half, stringing together a 15-5 run to give the Zips a 54-34 advantage by the 9:21 mark. Chauncey Gilliam extended the run with five points of his own, forcing an NIU timeout with 7:55 to go and Akron leading 59-34.

Despite not hitting their first field goal of the second half until the 15:41 mark, the Zips were able to grab a 39-27 lead thanks to a 5-of-6 performance at the charity stripe.

Akron opened up an early 10-4 lead (15:21) behind a strong defensive effort by Zeke Marshall, who blocked three shots in the first five minutes of the game. NIU answered with a 9-0 run to grab its first lead of the game (13-10) with 10:37 to go in the half. Treadwell ended that run with a layup at the 10:15 mark.

After both teams traded several small leads, the Zips opened up a 31-22 advantage with 1:37 on the first half clock courtesy of a 12-2 run. The Huskies would score the final bucket of the half with Akron leading 31-24.

Treadwell led the Zips with seven points in the first half as Akron shot 52.4 percent from the floor (11-of-21), but did not connect on a 3-pointer (0-of-3). NIU held a 20-9 rebounding advantage, but turned the ball over 13 times and committed 11 fouls. UA finished with seven turnovers.

BUFFALO, NY – Zach Filzen hit a leaning jump shot in the lane with 12 second left to lift the University at Buffalo men's basketball team to a 59-57 win over Western Michigan at Alumni Arena on Saturday night. The win completed the sweep of the Mid-American Conference's West Division and extended the Bulls' winning streak to eight games.

Alumni Arena was rocking in front of a crowd of 4,561 – UB's largest of the season. Buffalo's "sixth man" played a huge part of the game's final moments. Following Filzen's jumper to give the Bulls the lead, Western Michigan's Matt Stainbrook was on the line for two throws with 1.1 seconds left. In front of a deafening crowd, he missed both free throws and Dave Barnett grabbed the rebound to seal the win for the Bulls.

Buffalo (16-6, 9-2 MAC) looked to be in control early in the game, jumping out to a 14-4 lead. The Bulls held the Broncos to just 27 percent shooting in the first half and led at the break, 27-23.

UB extended its lead to 30-23 early in the second half, before Western Michigan mounted a 19-5 scoring run to turn a seven-point deficit into a seven-point advantage with 14:04 remaining.

Western Michigan led 46-39 with 12:06 left, before the Bulls went on a 7-0 scoring run and a Tony Watson jumper knotted the contest at 46 with 10:44 remaining. Watson nailed his only three-pointer of the game to give the Bulls a 54-50 lead with 6:03 remaining.

Missed free throws nearly cost the Bulls as they were unable to extend their lead. Following a pair of missed free throws by Titus Robinson, Western Michigan's Mike Douglas scored and got fouled. His free throw put the Broncos up, 57-56, with 24 seconds remaining. Following a UB timeout, Filzen hit a twisting jumper in the paint to win it for the Bulls.

"If you came for a beauty contest, I guess you were wondering where you were after awhile," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "I thought our guys persevered and we got through some tough times and got ourselves back into the game. I thought our crowd played a huge part right down to the end. It was great to have that kind of support."

Mitchell Watt led all scorers with 16 points and added eight rebounds and a season-high six blocked shots. He scored 15 of his points in the second half. Javon McCrea sparked the Bulls early, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the first half. Filzen also reached double-figures with 10 points.

Buffalo outrebounded Western Michigan, 44-37, and held the Broncos to 34 percent shooting for the game.

Stainbrook led the Broncos with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team closed out its six-game trip through the Mid-American Conference East Division with a convincing 68-55 win over the Ohio University Bobcats  here Saturday, Feb. 11, in the Convocation Center.  The game was E-Club Athletic Hall of Fame Day as well as Polish-American Day.

The Eagles jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game and never looked back in recording their 11th win of the season against 14 losses and, more importantly, the Eagles kept possession of first place in the MAC West Division at 6-5.

Junior guard Derek Thompson (Detroit, Mich.-Melvindale-SEMO) scored a season-high 23 points to lead the Eagles while senior guard Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Dearborn Heights Robichaud) added 13 and junior forward Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid) chipped in 12 to go along with a team-best seven rebounds.

Ohio, now 19-6 overall and 7-4 in MAC action, was paced by D.J. Cooper with 15 and Reggie Kelly with 14.

The Eagles shot 50 percent for the game from the field, making 18-of-36 attempts and also shot a blistering 66.7 from beyond the arc, making 8-of-12 threes.  In addition, Eastern made 24-of-33 free throws for 72.7 percent. Eastern also won the battle of the boards, 34-28.

Ohio, meanwhile, was making just 31.3 percent from the field, hitting 15-of-48 and the Bobcats would shoot a poor 23.1 percent from three-point land, making 6-of-26.

Eastern started the game on a roll, building that 9-0 lead at the 10:14 mark of the first half.

The home team would keep the lead at eight, 19-11, with 4:24 left in the first half, but the visitors would cut the deficit to four, 19-15, with 3:06 left.

Harris would then hit the first three-point field goal of his career at the 2:31 mark and Thompson would add another triple for the Eagles to make it 27-15 with just 46 seconds remaining in the half.

Ohio's Stevie Taylor would score on a reverse layup with 13 seconds left to finish the half with EMU on top, 27-17.

Green led the way for the Eagles in the first half with 10 while D.J. Cooper paced the Bobcats with five.  EMU made 10-of-19 field goals in the first half for 52.6 percent while holding Ohio to just 22.7 percent on 5-of-22. Ohio had a 15-14 rebound edge in the first half.

EMU opened the second half  with a 12-point lead, 31-19, with 16:06 left on a layup by Harris.

Ohio would cut the deficit below double figures, but Harris would come up with a high-flying alley oop dunk off a great feed from Thompson at the 12:14 mark to put EMU up 10, 35-25.

The visitors would creep back into the game after that dunk, cutting it to seven, 35-28, on a triple from Stevie Taylor, but once again the Eagles would answer, this time on a triple from Thompson to put EMU back up 10, 48-38, at the 5:57 mark.

Ohio would get as close as five several times late in the game, the last time at 56-51, with 2:45 remaining on a triple by Cooper, but the Eagles slowly built it back to double digits in the last two minutes, finally making it 13 at the final buzzer.

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green men’s basketball team overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to extend its winning streak to four games with a 66-63 victory over rival Toledo Saturday afternoon in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 4,421.

 

Scott Thomas scored 21 points, 15 in the second half, and A’uston Calhoun had his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Dee Brown had all 11 of his points in the final 20 minutes as the Falcon upperclassmen made sure Bowling Green would win its fourth in a row over its rival.

 

In fact, it was the seniors who made big plays down the stretch to be sure their final regular season game against the Rockets would be a win. Thomas and Brown combined to make four three-pointers in the final 14 minutes to help Bowling Green come from behind, while senior Torian Oglesby came off the bench to provide eight rebounds, three on the offensive glass.

 

Rian Pearson, the Mid-American Conference’s leading scorer, knocked down a jumper with 16:20 to play that closed a 10-4 run to start the second half and gave Toledo a 39-26 lead. But the Falcons began to pressure with a full-court zone trap that flustered the Rockets.

 

Crawford made a free-throw and then had a steal on Toledo’s next possession that Thomas converted into a lay-up to make it 39-29. The Rockets then failed to cross halfcourt on its next possession and Calhoun scored inside to bring the deficit back to single-digits.

 

Toledo still led 44-35 when Thomas connected on the Falcons’ first three-pointer of the game with 13:19 to play. Brown made a three on the team’s next possession and then Oglesby had a dunk with 12:20 left to make it a one-point game.

 

Toledo pushed the lead back to five but Brown made his second three-pointer and Calhoun’s tip dunk with 6:54 to play tied the game, brought the crowd to its feet, and energized the Falcons. Neither team, though, was able to score for almost three minutes until Toledo’s Curtis Dennis hit a big three that gave the Rockets the lead again.

 

On the next possession, Thomas answered with his second three-pointer of the game. With the score tied at 57-57 after a pair of Brown free-throws, the Falcons forced a missed shot and Thomas came off a curl to find a wide open lane. He drove to the hoop, scored on a lay-up and was foul. His ensuing free-throw gave BGSU a 60-57 lead with 2:13 to go.

 

After Toledo used a timeout, Crawford stole a cross-court pass and scored going the other way to put Bowling Green back up five. But the Rockets weren’t quite done.

 

Dennis made his fourth three-pointer to cut the deficit to two with 1:14 to go but Calhoun scored on a tip-in with 37 seconds left to give the Falcons a 64-60 lead. After Toledo’s Julius Brown missed on a three, Brown went to the line and made a free-throw with 16 seconds left. He missed the second, but Crawford came up with a steal and connected on a final free-throw to ice the game. Toledo made a three-pointer with six seconds left, but it was not enough.

 

Thomas scored his 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, adding six rebounds (five on the offensive glass), and four steals while playing all 40 minutes. Calhoun was 10-of-18 shooting and had seven of his 12 rebounds on the offensive side. As a team, Bowling Green had 21 offensive rebounds and held a 40-27 edge on the boards. With a lot of putbacks, the Falcons had a 21-10 advantage on second-chance points and led 40-16 in points in the paint.

 

Bowling Green won the game despite making just 6-of-20 free-throws and watching Toledo made 12-of-19 three-pointers. The Falcons forced 18 turnovers, picking up 12 steals, four from both Thomas and Crawford.

 

The announced attendance represents the largest crowd of the Stroh Center era as the Falcons won their fourth consecutive team to move into a tie for fourth in the Mid-American Conference. It was the largest home crowd since 4,708 fans packed into Anderson Arena to watch Bowling Green and Toledo battle on Jan. 22, 2005.

 

Toledo falls to 11-14 overall and 3-8 in MAC play. Bowling Green improves to 13-11 overall and 7-4 in MAC action. The Falcons are tied with Ohio for fourth place in the league and the top four earn byes to at least the quarterfinals in the MAC Tournament. Those two teams will face off Wednesday in Ohio’s Convocation Center at 7 p.m. Bowling Green won the first meeting, defeating the Bobcats 67-57 in the Stroh Center.

OXFORD, Ohio--A 3-2 Central Michigan lead 35 seconds into the game was the most adversity the Miami men's basketball team faced Saturday afternoon at Millett Hall, as the RedHawks came away with a 69-50 victory. Sophomore forward Jon Harris led Miami in scoring with 17 points, a career-high, and senior forward Adam Thomas registered career-highs as well with nine points and seven rebounds.

Freshman guard Will Sullivan also scored a career-high in points with eight, and freshman center Jared Tadlock scored his first point of the season on a free throw in the closing minutes, meaning four RedHawks had career games point-wise. Senior forward Julian Mavunga was the only other Miami player in double-digits with 14 points.

The RedHawks came out firing in the opening minutes of the game, jumping out to a 10-3 lead that was capitalized by a put back dunk from Harris, who had also drained a 3-pointer the previous possession. The dunk signified the final points on the board for either squad for nearly three minutes until Central Michigan's Austin McBroom knocked down two freebies at the 15:08 mark, making the score 10-5.

Miami's scoring drought lasted a minute and a half longer until Will Sullivan drilled one from behind the arc to stretch the RedHawk lead to 13-5. Two more free throws from the Chippewas made it 13-7, but then nine unanswered Miami points, four from Mavunga and five from sophomore guard Josh Sewell, extended its lead to 22-7 with 8:07 remaining in the half.

Central Michigan's Trey Zeigler knocked down a jumper at the 6:48 mark, giving the Chippewas their first field goal since the opening minute of the game, a drought of nearly 13 minutes. They would go on to make just one more field goal the entire half, and the RedHawks waltzed into the locker room at halftime with a 30-15 lead. The 15 points scored by Central Michigan were the lowest by a Miami opponent in any half this season, thanks in part to a Miami defense that held the Chippewas to just 15 percent shooting.

The second half began with back-to-back Central Michigan baskets, nearly matching the team's production from the floor in the first half. Harris answered right back for Miami with four points of his own, including an electrifying dunk that brought the crowd to its feet, making the score 34-19. Five points from sophomore guard Quinten Rollins and the RedHawks had a 9-2 scoring run to extend their lead to 39-21. The streakiness of the second half continued with Central Michigan recording six unanswered points to come within 12, 39-27.

Three free throws from Mavunga pushed the Miami lead to 15, and it was at this point that the RedHawks really found their stroke from behind the arc. Harris hit two 3-pointers and Thomas made one of his own to keep the lead at 15, 51-36, with 7:51 remaining. Miami's top 3-point shooter, freshman guard Brian Sullivan, joined in with a trey of his own and Mavunga knocked down one from long range to make the score 59-40 with 4:40 left.

Miami remained in control for the rest of the afternoon, with its lead reaching 22 points on a pair of free throws from Thomas. The 22-point lead is the largest Miami has had in any game this season. When all was said and done, the RedHawks walked away victorious by a score of 69-50.

KENT, Ohio – Kent State (18-6; 8-3 MAC) dominated the paint in the first half to roll to a sixth consecutive win with a 76-55 victory over Ball State (12-11; 4-7 MAC) in a Mid-American Conference cross divisional match-up Saturday morning at the M.A.C. Center.  With the win, the Golden Flashes extended their streak to 30 consecutive victories over MAC West opponents as they swept cross divisional play for the fourth consecutive season.  

Senior forward Justin Greene (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led four players in double figures for Kent State totaling game highs of 18 points and nine rebounds.  Greene was the focal point of the Golden Flashes presence in the paint early on scoring 10 of the team's first 19 points under the basket.  Behind the effort of the reigning MAC Player of the Year, Kent State recorded a 26-4 advantage in points scored in the paint at half time which led to a 38-24 lead.  

In the second half, the Cardinals attempted to get back in the game with a 10-2 spurt to pull within single digits at 43-34.  Senior guard Carlton Guyton (Chicago, Ill.), quickly ended any hope of a Ball State comeback however as he drilled one of the Golden Flashes' six second half three-pointers then found junior forward Chris Evans (Chesapeake, Va.) for another as the lead quickly extend back to double digits.

Guyton helped orchestrate the balanced Kent State offense totaling 14 points and handing out eight assists against just one turnover, while Evans reached double figures off the bench for the sixth consecutive game scoring 11 points and grabbing six rebounds.  Junior guard Randal Holt (Cleveland, Ohio) was not needed for a late game three-pointer today, but still connected on 3-4 from beyond the arc as he finished with 13 points.