Persons and Dartis Highlight MAC Basketball Tuesday Night
Tuesday's Scoreboard
Ball State 59, Bowling Green 56
Ohio 99, Akron 75
Buffalo 88, Central Michigan 82
Western Michigan 68, Miami 64
Toledo 82, Northern Illinois 77
Eastern Michigan 71, Kent State 67
Stories Courtesy of the Associated Press
Ball State 59, Bowling Green 56
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Tayler Persons drained a 3-pointer with one second left to give Ball State a 59-56 victory over Bowling Green on Tuesday night.
Persons, who had just two points in the first half, stepped behind a Trey Moses screen and ripped the net for the winner. It is the fifth time this season that Persons has hit either the tying or winning shot for the Cardinals. He finished with 15 points.
Moses had 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Tahjai Teague added 11 points with nine rebounds for Ball State (15-9, 6-5 Mid-American Conference).
Bowling Green pushed its 33-27 halftime advantage to 45-37 at the 11:30 mark.
Ball State took its first lead in the second half when Sean Sellers nailed a trey with 3:59 remaining. Moses made two free throws to lead 56-53 with 2:28 left. Bowling Green's Justin Turner drilled a 3-pointer to make it 56-56 with 2:14 left.
Antwon Lillard and Dylan Frye had 15 and 14 points respectively for Bowling Green (14-10, 5-6).
Ohio 99, Akron 75
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio -- Jordan Dartis scored 26 of his career-high 38 points in the first half as Ohio sprinted to an early lead and coasted to a 99-75 win over Akron to halt a four-game skid in Mid-American Conference action on Tuesday night.
Dartis also hit a career-best 10 of 15 from long range, making 13 of 20 from the field. Gavin Block added 14 points and Teyvion Kirk scored 13 with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals for Ohio (10-13, 3-8). Doug Taylor had five blocks.
The Bobcats closed out the first half on a 20-6 run to go into intermission with a 56-34 advantage. Ohio, which dropped a 101-98 double overtime game to Central Michigan on Saturday, pushed the advantage to 82-56 midway through the second period.
Daniel Utomi led Akron (10-13, 3-8), which has lost four straight, with 21 points, hitting 4 of 6 from distance. Malcolm Duvivier added 15 points and Eric Parrish scored 13.
Buffalo 88, Central Michigan 82
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Jeremy Harris hit four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and Wes Clark made 4-of-4 free throws in the final 28 seconds to help Buffalo beat Central Michigan 88-82 on Tuesday night.
Clark finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists. CJ Massinburg added 18 points, including three 3-pointers, and Nick Perkins scored 13 for Buffalo (18-6, 10-1 Mid-American Conference).
Josh Kozinski's 3-pointer capped a 12-2 run and trimmed Central Michigan's deficit to 74-66 with nearly 3 1/2 minutes to play and Shawn Roundtree hit four consecutive free throws to pull within six points with 36 seconds left. Clark and Massinburg combined to make 5-of-6 free throws from there to seal it.
Cecil Williams had 23 points and nine rebounds and Roundtree scored 20 for Central Michigan (15-9, 4-7).
Clark's layup gave the Bulls, who never trailed, a 12-point lead midway through the first half. Harris made back-to-back 3-pointers and Massinburg converted a 4-point play during a 10-2 spurt that made it 72-54.
Western Michigan 68, Miami 64
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Reggie Jones finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Josh Davis hit a go-ahead 3-pointer late to lift Western Michigan to a 68-64 victory over Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday night.
Davis, who scored 17, connected from long distance with 2:16 left to give the Broncos (14-10, 6-5 Mid-American Conference) a 65-64 lead. Jones hit 1 of 2 free throws with 11 seconds remaining and Thomas Wilder, who added 12 points, sank two more for the victory. The RedHawks (13-11, 6-5) missed their final four shots, all from 3-point range.
Nike Sibande scored 13 to pace Miami, while Dalonte Brown added 12 points and eight rebounds.
The RedHawks led 38-36 at halftime and stretched their advantage to 53-46 on a Jalen Adaway dunk midway through the second half. Miami led 61-54 with 5:23 remaining, but hit just three free throws from there.
Western Michigan swept the season series and beat the RedHawks for the fourth straight time.
Toledo 82, Northern Illinois 77
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Jaelan Sanford tossed in 22 points, Tre'Shaun Fletcher scored 20 and Marreon Jackson came up big down the stretch to help Toledo hold off upset-minded Northern Illinois 82-77 on Tuesday night.
Jackson buried a 3-pointer with 54 seconds remaining to give Toledo (17-7, 9-2 Mid-American Conference) a 78-75 lead and he added two free throws with 28 seconds left to push the lead to five. Eugene German's layup pulled the Huskies (10-14, 3-8) within 80-77 and they had a shot to tie after Sanford missed a pair of foul shots. But German missed from distance and Jackson, who scored 13, added two free throws to seal it.
German finished with a career-high 30 points and added eight rebounds and four assists. Levi Bradley scored 24 for Northern Illinois, which lost its fourth straight game and fell to 1-10 on the road.
Toledo, the top shooting 3-point team in the MAC, sank 11 of 27 (41 percent) and held the Huskies to 4-of-17 shooting from distance. The Rockets won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Eastern Michigan 71, Kent State 67
Box Score
KENT, Ohio -- Paul Jackson had 17 points and eight assists, Elijah Minnie added 15 points, three blocks and three steals and Eastern Michigan beat Kent State 71-67 on Tuesday night.
Eastern Michigan (14-10, 5-6 Mid-American Conference) won in Kent for the first time since beating the Golden Flashes 79-73 on Feb. 7, 1998.
Jordan Nobles hit a 3-pointer before Jackson scored the last four points in a 7-0 spurt that gave the Eagles a 65-57 lead with 65 seconds to play. Adonis De La Rosa and Jalen Avery made back-to-back layups and, after a dunk by James Thompson IV, Jaylin Walker hit a deep 3 to pull Kent State within three points with 21 seconds left. Minnie answered with a dunk before Walker made a 3 from well beyond NBA-range to make it 69-67 with 11.7 seconds remaining, but Jackson sealed it with two free throws.
Walker led Kent State (12-12, 6-5) with 24 points, including six 3-pointers. Danny Pippen added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
