Falcons Fly to Eighth Straight Victory
Tuesday's Scoreboard
Bowling Green 79, Ball State 78
Central Michigan 78, Northern Illinois 69
#16 Buffalo 88, Western Michigan 79
Akron 51, Eastern Michigan 49
Kent State 66, Ohio 52
Toledo 71, Miami 59
Stories Courtesy of the Associated Press
Bowling Green 79, Ball State 78
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Justin Turner scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, Daeqwon Plowden had 19 points and eight rebounds and Bowling Green edged Ball State 79-78 on Tuesday night for its eighth straight victory.
Dylan Frye sank a 3-pointer with 3:09 remaining to extend BGSU's lead to 72-66 and he added a free throw with 5.7 seconds left for a 79-75 lead. Tayler Persons answered with a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
Bowling Green (12-5, 4-0 Mid-American Conference) is 9-0 at home this season for its best start since the 1999-00 Falcons went 12-0.
Demajeo Wiggins added 15 rebounds and Frye finished with 10 points for BGSU, which beat Ball State for the ninth time in the last 11 meetings.
Persons scored 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Ball State (10-7, 1-3). Tahjai Teague added 19 points.
Central Michigan 78, Northern Illinois 69
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. -- Shawn Roundtree hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points, David DiLeo added 18 points with five 3s, and Central Michigan pulled away late to beat Northern Illinois 78-69 on Tuesday night.
A DiLeo 3-pointer capped a 13-2 run for an 11-point lead early in the second half as the Chippewas were 7 of 9 from distance. Levi Bradley's jumper tied it at 63 with 5:53 left, but the Huskies got no closer from there.
Rob Montgomery and Roundtree combined for eight in a 10-0 run for a 76-65 lead with 48 seconds left.
Montgomery scored 16 points and Kevin McKay added 10 for Central Michigan (14-2, 3-1 Mid-American Conference), which made 13 of 29 3s but was outscored 40-26 in the paint.
Bradley scored 27 points, Dante Thorpe added 18 and German had 13 for the Huskies (10-7, 3-1), who saw their three-game win streak end.
#16 Buffalo 88, Western Michigan 79
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Buffalo was finally challenged in conference play -- and coach Nate Oats wasn't thrilled with how his team handled it.
Jeremy Harris had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and the 16th-ranked Bulls held off upset-minded Western Michigan 88-79 on Tuesday night, but this game was close throughout after Buffalo won its first three Mid-American Conference games by a combined 70 points.
"It's as close as we've had in a while," Oats said. "It's not the worst thing to happen to us, but we've got to fix some stuff. We're not headed the right direction."
Nick Perkins added 14 points for the Bulls (16-1, 4-0), who trailed by 11 in the first half and struggled to shake free of WMU until the very end. The Bulls led by just four when star guard CJ Massinburg -- who had been scoreless in the second half -- connected from 3-point range to make it 86-79 with under 90 seconds remaining.
The Broncos (6-11, 0-4) went on a 15-0 run in the first half and led 33-22, but Buffalo rebounded quickly and led 43-39 at halftime.
"When they needed to, they got to the free throw line, or they got to layups," WMU coach Steve Hawkins said. "Kudos to them. They did what they had to do."
The Bulls led 69-68 when Perkins and Ronaldo Segu made consecutive 3-pointers. Buffalo pushed the lead to nine, but WMU answered with seven straight points to make it 77-75.
Josh Davis scored 24 points for WMU.
Akron 51, Eastern Michigan 49
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio -- Daniel Utomi and Jimond Ivey scored 12 points each and Akron held off Eastern Michigan 51-49 on Tuesday night despite poor shooting from both teams late.
Eastern Michigan (8-9, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) shot 2 of 9 from the floor and had a turnover over the last five minutes while the Zips (10-7, 2-2) missed three field goals and a free throw, and turned the ball over four times.
Utomi made a 3-pointer to put the Zips up for good, 46-45, with 6:30 to play. Ivey dunked to stretch the lead to 48-45, then Malik Ellison's layup pulled Eastern Michigan to 48-47 with 4:31 remaining.
Paul Jackson's layup for the Eagles capped the scoring with 42 seconds to go. On the next possession, James Thompson IV blocked a shot and grabbed a defensive rebound for Eastern Michigan, but Ty Groce missed a potential-tying layup with five seconds left.
Boubacar Toure scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Eastern Michigan. Paul Jackson added 15 points, five assists and four steals. Thompson finished with six points and 11 rebounds.
Kent State 66, Ohio 52
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio -- Jaylin Walker scored 21 points and broke a 3-point record, Philip Whittington had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Kent State pulled away early in the second half to beat Ohio 66-52 on Tuesday night.
Walker hit three 3-pointers to become the leading 3-point shooter in Kent State history with 248 makes.
Kent State (13-4, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) bounced back from a 95-61 rout at Eastern Michigan in its last outing. Ohio (9-7, 1-3) has lost three of its last four.
The Golden Flashes used a 9-0 surge over a five-minute stretch to take a 50-41 lead. Jason Carter's layup with 3:48 left pulled Ohio to 54-48 but they didn't get closer.
Jalen Avery added 15 points and Antonio Williams 10 for Kent State.
Carter had 11 points, 13 rebounds and four assists to lead the Bobcats, who missed 16 3-pointers and shot just 32 percent (20 of 63). Teyvion Kirk chipped in with 11 points and Antonio Cowart Jr. had 10.
Toledo 71, Miami 59
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Jaelan Sanford scored 19 points and Toledo beat Miami (Ohio) 71-59 on Tuesday night for its 11th straight win in the series.
Toledo's last loss to Miami (Ohio) was a 68-66 setback on Feb. 12, 2011 in coach Tod Kowalczyk's first season at the helm of the Rockets.
Luke Knapke added 11 points with seven rebounds and Marreon Jackson had 10 points, six assists and a career-high four steals for Toledo (14-3, 2-2 Mid-American Conference).
Toledo went on a 19-2 run to build a 16-point first-half lead, but it was trimmed to 39-30 by the break. Sanford had 15 points for Toledo and Nike Sibande led Miami with 14. Miami got within one point twice in the second half but couldn't get any closer.
Sibande scored a season-high 26 points with four 3-pointers for Miami (Ohio) (8-9, 0-4) and Dalonte Brown added 10 points.
