Bowling Green Rallies Late to Beat WMU
Tuesday's Scoreboard
Bowling Green 83, Western Michigan 81
Buffalo 84, Kent State 72
Toledo 82, Ohio 74
Ball State 90, Akron 77
Eastern Michigan 58, Miami 57
Central Michigan 80, Northern Illinois 72
Stories Courtesy of The Associated Press
Bowling Green 83, Western Michigan 81
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Antwon Lillard sank three free throws after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt in the final seconds and Bowling Green rallied to beat Western Michigan 83-81 on Tuesday night.
Bowling Green trailed by as much as 15 points in the first half and was behind 45-34 at intermission. Western Michigan led throughout the second half until Lillard drained a trey and Derek Kotch made two free throws to give the Falcons an 80-79 lead with 1:13 left. Thomas Wilder followed with two free throws to retake the lead before he partially blocked Lillard's 3-point attempt. Wilder was called for the foul and Lillard calmly sank all three free throws with four seconds left.
Justin Turner had 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting and Lillard added 18 points for Bowling Green (16-10, 7-6 Mid-American Conference). Demajeo Wiggins had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Wilder led Western Michigan (15-11, 7-6) with 18 points, five assists and six steals. Josh Davis added 15 points.
Buffalo 84, Kent State 72
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jeremy Harris had 24 points and Wes Clark scored 19, including three 3-pointers, to help Buffalo beat Kent State 84-72 on Tuesday night.
Harris and Clark combined to make 17 of 29 (58.6 percent) from the field. Nick Perkins had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while CJ Massinburg added eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Buffalo (19-7, 11-2 Mid-American Conference).
Harris scored seven points in an 11-2 run that made it 20-12 and gave the Bulls the lead for good. Dontay Caruthers and Jayvon Graves hit back-to-back 3-pointers during a 16-4 spurt that pushed the lead to 19 points before Kent State's Kevin Zabo hit a 3 to make it 45-27 at the break. Buffalo led by double figures throughout the second half.
Zabo led Kent State (12-14, 6-7) with 17 points and Jalen Avery scored 16, including a career-high tying four 3-pointers. Jaylin Walker added 15 points and Adonis De La Rosa had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Buffalo shot 52.4 percent (33 of 63) from the field.
Toledo 82, Ohio 74
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Jaelen Sanford scored 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting and Tre'Shaun Fletcher had 17 points and eight rebounds to help Toledo beat Ohio 82-74 on Tuesday night for its fourth win in a row.
Nate Navigato hit three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists for Toledo (19-7, 11-2 Mid-American Conference).
Fletcher, Marreon Jackson and Navigato each hit a 3-pointer during a 15-0 opening run and the Rockets led the rest of the way. Kevin Mickle's jumper pulled Ohio (10-15, 3-10) within six points with three minutes to play, but Toledo hit 15 of 16 free throws from there to seal it.
Mickle, a graduate transfer from Florida Gulf Coast, led Ohio with a career-high 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Teyvion Kirk added 21 points -- including 19 in the second half -- and 10 rebounds.
Toledo made 32 of 37 free-throw attempts -- both season highs.
Ball State 90, Akron 77
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio -- Trey Moses and Tahjai Teague both recorded double-doubles as Ball State pulled away in the second half to beat Akron 90-77 in Mid-American Conference action on Tuesday night.
Moses was 9 of 11 from the floor to match his career high of 22 points to go with 13 rebounds and two blocks. Teague made 9 of 12 from the free-throw line to total 21 points, while grabbing 10 rebounds for Ball State (17-9, 8-5) which has won three straight and five of its last six games. The Cardinals also picked up their first road win over Akron since 2001.
Ball State closed the first half on a 16-4 spurt to take a 41-40 lead into intermission. Akron's Daniel Utomi drilled a 3 to start the second period and Akron took a 49-45 lead before Moses had a layup to start an 11-2 run. The Cardinals pushed their advantage to 71-61 following a Zach Gunn 3 with 7:21 left.
Malcolm Duvivier had 26 points, hitting 6 of 13 from long range, to lead Akron (11-14, 4-9).
Eastern Michigan 58, Miami 57
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Elijah Minnie tossed in 24 points and James Thompson IV finished with his 18th double-double of the season to help Eastern Michigan hold off Miami (Ohio) 58-57 on Tuesday night.
Minnie hit four 3-pointers and added nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the Eagles (15-11, 6-7 Mid-American Conference), who beat the RedHawks (13-13, 6-7) for a sixth straight time. Thompson scored 14 with 14 rebounds and four blocks. He came in ranked third in the nation averaging 12.0 rebounds per game and fourth in double-doubles.
Minnie nailed a 3-pointer to begin and end an 11-0 run and the Eagles led 21-9, increasing their lead to 33-18 by halftime. A Paul Jackson layup gave Eastern Michigan a 47-36 lead with 8:22 left, but Jake Wright buried three straight 3s to pull the RedHawks within 49-45 just two minutes later. Minnie hit a pair of free throws to give the Eagles a 56-49 lead, but Wright's 3 capped a 6-0 spurt to get Miami within a point. The teams traded baskets and after Malik Ellison missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Mills grabbed the rebound for the RedHawks with 21 seconds left. Miami turned the ball over on a steal by Tim Bond.
Wright led Miami with 21 points, while Bam Bowman scored 11 with eight rebounds.
Central Michigan 80, Northern Illinois 72
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. -- Kevin McKay came off the bench to score a career-high 33 points and hit several big shots down the stretch to help Central Michigan pull away late for an 80-72 victory over Northern Illinois on Tuesday night.
McKay hit 14 of 20 shots from the floor and added seven rebounds and three assists for the Chippewas (16-10, 5-8 Mid-American Conference). Shawn Roundtree hit 9 of 9 from the free-throw line and scored 16, while Cecil Williams contributed 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Roundtree hit two free throws with 4:21 left to play to knot the score at 69. McKay followed with a 3-point play to give Central Michigan a 72-69 lead. Noah McCarty's layup cut the Huskies' deficit to 74-72 with 1:51 to go, but McKay had a basket and a tip-in to push the Chippewas' lead to 78-72. Roundtree hit two free throws with 19 seconds left to seal it.
Eugene German paced the Huskies (11-15, 4-9) with 23 points and seven boards, while Lacey James scored 13.
