Wednesday's MAC Men's Basketball Results

AKRON, Ohio – For the seventh time in as many seasons Akron has won 20 games thanks to a 79-68 victory over Bowling Green on Wednesday night at Rhodes Arena in a Mid-American Conference matchup.

The Zips (20-8, 12-1 MAC) are just one of 12 Division-I programs (out of 345) to have won 20-plus games in each of the last seven seasons. The victory also secured a bye to the MAC tournament quarterfinals next month.

The win, coupled with Buffalo's loss to Ohio tonight, gives the Zips a chance to claim their first-ever MAC regular-season title on Sunday when they face Ohio in Athens on ESPNU at 8 p.m. ET.

Zeke Marshall led the way with 16 points, seven boards and one blocked shot as five Akron players scored in double figures. Brian Walsh, Alex Abreu and Nikola Cvetinovic all had 12 points while Demetrius Treadwell finished with 10 points.

Akron closed the game shooting 57.1 percent on 28-of-49 shooting. UA won the rebounding battle 35-25 and had 19 assists on 28 buckets. The Zips also dominated points in the paint, 42-28.

A'ustin Calhoun led Bowling Green (14-13, 7-6 MAC) with 18 points.

The second half started with the Falcons cutting the Zips' lead to three points (45-42). However, UA answered that run with its own run (6-0) to force a BGSU timeout with 16:11 left in the game and a 51-42 lead.

Bowling Green cut the lead to 51-46 by the 15:45 mark before Akron used a 9-2 run to take a 12-point lead (60-48) with 11:16 to go. Akron would maintain a lead of no less than seven points, including a double-digit advantage during most of the stretch, heading into the final media timeout (3:56).

The Falcons made one final push for the lead, closing the gap to 67-64 with 2:17 left, but Walsh and Treadwell both hit layups off BG turnovers to give UA a seven-point cushion. The Zips would go 8-of-8 at the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the win.

Both teams shot the ball well over the first 9:19, combining to go 15-of-26 from the field (57.5 percent). The Zips were able to open up a seven-point lead (21-14) coming out of the under-12 timeout (11:30).

After BGSU cut the Akron lead to three points (21-18) with 10:16 to go in the half, the Zips forced the Falcons to use their first timeout of the game thanks to an 8-2 run to take a 29-20 lead (8:10). The UA lead would grow to 10 points on several occasions before BGSU once again cut it to three points (39-36), this time with 1:34 left before the intermission.

Marshall scored the final four points of the half, giving Akron a 43-36 advantage heading into the locker room.

The Zips shot 60.6 percent (20-of-33) over the first 20 minutes and scored 32 of their 43 points in the paint. UA held a 16-12 rebounding edge and turned the ball over just four times.

Ohio 88, Buffalo 77

BUFFALO, N.Y.- Ohio received a career-high 23 points from Walter Offutt as it defeated Buffalo this evening 88-77 at Alumni Arena. D.J. Cooper added 20 points as the Bobcats improved to 22-6 and moved into a three-way tie for second place in the Mid-American Conference standings.

Offutt hit five three-pointers and also grabbed seven rebounds while Cooper had eight assists and four steals. The junior from Chicago is now 15 assists away from breaking Ohio's all-time mark. Offutt and Cooper became the first Ohio teammates to each surpass 20 points in the same game this year.

Nick Kellogg scored eight of his season-high 15 points during a stretch in the second half that saw Ohio go in front by double figures. Ivo Baltic and T.J. Hall each had nine points and nine rebounds. It was a career night on the glass for the sophomore from Florida and he also scored his most points in MAC play this season.

Ohio shot 39 percent for the game but was helped by 20-of-21 shooting at the free-throw line and +8 advantage on the glass against one of the best rebounding teams in the country. The 'Cats also limited UB to 7-of-25 shooting from beyond the arc (28%).

Trailing 13-8, Ohio went on a 12-2 run to take a 20-15 lead with 9:09 remaining in the half. Free throws by Cooper on the Green & White's last possession pushed the lead to seven before Titus Robinson slammed home two of his 14 points off the bench for UB.

Cooper and Offutt each scored 11 in the first half as Ohio took a 37-32 lead into the lockers.

With the score tied 39-39, Kellogg scored eight straight points thanks to two three-pointers and a fast break layup. A Reggie Keely putback gave Ohio its first double-digit lead of the game at 49-39 with 15:32 to play.

The lead would eventually swell to 15 points as the `Cats held the Bulls without a field goal for almost eight minutes. Trailing 60-45, UB went on an 8-0 run before Smith converted a putback to make it 62-53 with 8:15 showing on the clock.

A Robinson dunk cut it to a two-possession game, but the UB player was whistled for a technical foul and Ohio got two free throws from Kellogg and a three-pointer from Offutt to stretch the lead back to 10 at 7:20.

Cooper hit two free throws with 1:38 left for its largest lead, 19 points, and coasted to an 88-77 win.

Ohio scored 18 points off 14 UB turnovers, notched 24 second chance points and held an 11-0 edge in fastbreak points.

Ohio will host Akron on Sunday night at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU and will also be the Green Fever game for the Bobcats.

Toledo 72, Central Michigan 67

TOLEDO, OH - Freshman G Julius Brown tied his career high with 29 points on Wednesday to lead Toledo to its third straight win, a 72-67 triumph over Central Michigan in Savage Arena. The victory keeps the Rockets within two games of first-place Eastern Michigan in the Mid-American Conference’s West Division and also evens UT’s overall record at 14-14 (5-8 MAC).

A Markham, IL native, Brown put on a dazzling shooting performance, knocking down 10-of-11 field goals and 8-of-10 free throws in 33 minutes of action. He matched his previous season best of 29 against Florida Gulf Coast when he drained a season-high seven treys.

Junior G Curtis Dennis came off the bench with 18 points, including a 3-of-5 performance from behind the three-point arc. Sophomore G Rian Pearson also was in double figures, scoring 11 points to go along with a team-high seven boards marking the 11th straight game he has led UT on the glass.

The Rockets also shot a season-high 58.1 percent from the field and outrebounded the Chippewas by a 27-24 margin.

That was just enough to overcome a career-best performance from sophomore G Trey Zeigler, who scored 33 points on 15-of-25 shooting and grabbed eight boards in 38 minutes.

In a game that featured 19 lead changes, Toledo appeared ready to put the Chippewas away with a 9-1 burst to take a 64-53 advantage with 5:32 remaining. But the visitors responded with a spurt of their own, reeling off nine straight points to make it a two-point contest, 64-62, with 2:42 left.

Brown then took over at the charity stripe by converting six straight free throws and not letting UT’s lead decrease any further. Brown hit a pair with 31.1 ticks left for a 70-66 cushion, and Zeigler then hit just one of two with 23.1 seconds left for a three-point margin. Sophomore F Matt Smith grabbed the ensuing rebound, was fouled and responded by making one of two to make it a two-possession contest and CMU didn’t score again.

The victory snapped the Rockets’ six-game losing streak in their series with the Chippewas and also avenged an 85-69 setback in their conference opener.

Toledo will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 25 when it hosts Western Michigan (12-16, 6-7 MAC) at 7:00 p.m. in Savage Arena. The contest will follow the Rocket women’s game vs. Northern Illinois which tips off at 4:30 p.m.

Eastern Michigan 48, Northern Illinois 45

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — A furious second-half comeback propelled the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team to a 48-45 win over a visiting Northern Illinois University team here Wednesday, Feb. 22, in a Mid-American Conference men's basketball game in the Convocation Center.

Trailing by 13, 39-26, with 11:49 left in the game, the Eagles went on a 15-0 run to take a 41-39 with 3:08 and the home team never relinquished that advantage, posting the three-point win.

With the win, Head Coach Rob Murphy's Eagles, now 7-6 in the MAC West and 12-16 overall, kept their lock on first place in the West Division.

The loss drops NIU to 3-23 overall and 2-11 in league action.

Senior guard Darrell Lampley (Linden, N.J.-Linden-Lakeland C.C.) led the Eagles with 21 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists and three steals. Junior guard Derek Thompson (Detroit, Mich.-Melvindale-SEMO) added 10 points. Sophomore center Da'Shonte Riley (Detroit, Mich.-Country Day-Syracuse) had six points with six rebounds.

NIU had two players, Abdel Nader and Tony Nixon, with 10 points each.

Eastern connected on 13-of-41 field goals for 31.7 percent and the Eagles made 17-of-24 free throws for 70.8 percent. The Eagles forced 17 NIU turnovers, but lost the rebounding battle, 42-28.

Northern Illinois shot just 30 percent, making 15-of-50 field goals and just 4-of-21 three-point attempts for 19.0 percent.

Eastern opened up with a 3-0 lead to start the game and pushed it to three, 7-4, with 11:54 on the clock when Lampley connected on a long triple.

The visitors would come back to take several two-point leads in the first half, the last two with 1:54 left on two free throws by Tony Nixon to make it 22-20.

Lampley would finish the first-half scoring at the 1:29 mark on a long two-point field goal to knot the game at 22-all.

Lampley and Thompson each had eight in the first half for the Eagles while Nixon led NIU with seven.

Eastern finished the first half shooing just 31.8 percent, making 7-of-22 field goals while NIU was not much better, making 8-of-25 for 32 percent. Northern held a 20-14 edge on the boards.

Northern started the second half with a 6-0 run, on two jumpers by Bader and a layup by Bolin to go up, 28-22.

After Lampley halted the NIU streak with two free throws, the Huskies ran off four more points to take the game's biggest lead, a nine-point advantage at the 15:52 mark.

The Huskies would go to the long back, with Antone Christian hitting two threes, to increase their lead to 13, 39-26, at the 11:49 mark of the second half.

Eastern would have a quick answer to that NIU run out, scoring 15 unanswered points to take a 41-39 lead with 3:08 left, on two free throws by Lampley.

Northern would finally break a nine-minute drought on a free throw by Kevin Gray to cut the EMU lead to one, 41-40.

Eastern would then go up by four, 44-40, on a triple by Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Dearborn Heights Robichaud) with just 2:19 left.

NIU would cut it back to one, 44-43, with 1:21 left on an Aksel Bolin tip, but Matt Balkema (Roseville, Mich.-Warren Cousino) would sink two free throws just 32 seconds later for a 46-43 EMU lead with 49.6 left on the clock and the Eagles would hold on for the 48-45 win.

The Eagles will stay home Saturday, Feb. 25, for a 4:30 p.m. MAC West tilt against the Ball State University Cardinals.

Western Michigan 78, Ball State 61

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men’s basketball team lit it up on offense for the second straight conference game, and the Broncos defeated the Ball State Cardinals 78-61 at University Arena on Wednesday.  The Broncos improve to 12-16 on the season with the win, including a 6-7 record in Mid-American Conference play.

 

The Broncos continued with what has been an absolutely torrid pace from three-point range, going 13 of 21 (.619) from beyond the arc  against the Cardinals for the fourth-best single game total in program history .  It is the second straight MAC game in which the Broncos tied that mark, having made 13 treys at Northern Illinois one week ago.  

Senior Demetrius Ward led the way with a 6 of 9 performance from three-point range; he has made 16 of his past 33 three-point attempts for a 48.5 long-distance shooting percentage.  Ward finished the game with a game-high 20 points. Nate Hutcheson and Flenard Whitfield each finished the game with 15 points, while Matt Stainbrook had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

 

As stated, the Broncos began the game in a manner reminiscent of the game at Northern Illinois, running the offense from the inside out and burying jumpers.  Ward did the majority of the damage, knocking down five of his seven three-point attempts for 15 points in the first half.  The Broncos trailed early but used a 12-0 run midway through the half to put some ground between themselves and the Cardinals; Ward made a triple from the right wing to give WMU a 13-10 lead at the 12:17 mark, and would kick out a pass that enabled Brandon Pokley to add a trey at the 11:31 mark.

 

Pokley returned the favor less than 30 seconds later when he stole a ball on the defensive end and hit Ward with a pass in the corner that was turned into a three-pointer.  Ward would cap the run with one more triple, giving WMU a 22-10 lead with just over 10 minutes to play.  The Cardinals would storm back and take a 35-29 lead with 1:18 to play, but Mike Douglas would knock down a three from the right corner to cut the lead to three points, and Ward would add one final bomb, scoring on a fall-away three-point jumper from the right side to tie the game heading into halftime. 

 

The Broncos opened the second half on a 12-5 run and never looked back, keeping the Cardinals at bay with a post presence, as opposed to the long range barrage in the first half.  After scoring just two points in the first half, Flenard Whitfield had nine points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, including fast break lay-ups on back-to-back possessions to give the Broncos a 58-46 lead and force BSU into a timeout.

 

The closest the Cardinals would get the rest of the way came at the 4:55 mark, when Tyrae Robinson made a free throw to cut the gap to 64-58.  However, Nate Hutcheson unleashed a highlight reel dunk at the 4:42 mark to expand the lead to eight points, and would drain a three less than a minute later to make it 69-59 with 3:49 remaining.

 

The Broncos held the Cardinals without a point for the final 2:44 of the game, finishing the game on a 9-0 run that was capped when Ward hit an off-balance three-pointer with the shot clock expiring to make it 78-61.