Wednesday's Men's Basketball Results
Ohio 81, Iona 72
Ball State 67, Illinois-Chicago 48
Miami 84, IPFW 80
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departmetnts
Ohio 81, Iona 72
Boxscore
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Led by a 27 point, 14 rebounds performance from sophomore guard Jason Preston, the Ohio men's basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season, defeating Iona (0-2), 81-72, Wednesday night (Nov. 13) inside the Hynes Center.
"I'm really proud with our effort level over 40 minute," first year head coach Jeff Boals said. "We knew it was going to be a forty minute game. They went to La Salle the other night and stormed back and made some threes in the second half and tied it up, We knew what was coming and like we did against St. Bonaventure, we bent but we didn't break."
Leading the way was Preston (Orlando, Fla.) with 27 points, going 10-of-17 from the field, 2-of-4 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. He also grabbed a team-leading 14 rebounds, dished out five assists and had two steals. Redshirt senior guard Jordan Dartis (Newark, Ohio) finished with 13 points, going 3-of-8 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Freshman guard Lunden McDay (Akron, Ohio) finished with 13 points, going 5-of-8 from the field. Redshirt sophomore Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) wrapped up the game with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Overall, Ohio shot 55.8 percent (29-of-52) from the field, 52.0 percent (13-of-25) from three-point range and 71.4 percent from the free throw line, while Iona shot 42.1 (24-of-57) percent from the field, 32.0 percent (8-of-25) from three-point range and 88.9 percent from the free throw line.
Ohio outrebounded the Gaels, 27-25, while Ohio dished out 15 assists to Iona's 12. The Bobcats also forced 18 turnovers and scored 16 points off of them, while Iona forced 19 turnovers and scored 25 points off of them.
Iona recorded the first points of the game after the Gaels hit the first field goal three minutes in. After an Iona three to take a 5-0 lead, Vander Plas drained a three of his own to cut the lead to 5-3. Another Iona jumper was matched by a layup from Vander Plas, however the Gaels drained a three to make the score 9-5 going into the first media timeout.
Out of the media timeout, Vander Plas drained his second three of the game, followed by a three from McDay to put the Bobcats in the lead for the first time. After a three from Dartis, the Bobcats and Gaels traded baskets. Redshirt freshman forward Nate Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) hit a trey of his own, followed by two free throws from Dartis that gave Ohio a five-point lead. After a dunk from freshman center Nolan Foster (Mattawan, Mich.), Iona hit a stepback jumper to cut the Bobcats lead to three entering the media timeout.
Out of the media timeout, Iona went on a 6-0 run to take a 24-23 lead, however McDay drained a three to put the Bobcats back up two. The Bobcats then went on a 10-0 run, capped by a three from graduate transfer forward Sylvester Ogbonda (Port Harcourt, Nigeria) to give Ohio a nine-point lead before the Gaels hit a three to cut the lead to 30-24.
After the media timeout, Iona cut the lead to two, however a layup and a free throw from Preston gave the Bobcats a 36-31 lead going into halftime.
At the half, Preston led the way with nine points and 10 rebounds, while Vander Plas had eight points, followed by McDay with six.
As a team, Ohio shot 54.2 percent from the field, 58.3 percent from three-point range and 50.0 percent from the free throw line, while Iona shot 42 percent from the field, 21 percent from three-point range and did not attempt a free throw.
McDay opened the second half with a layup to extend Ohio's lead to seven. However, Iona would tie the game at 36-36 before a dunk from Vander Plas would help give Ohio a 42-36 lead entering the first media timeout.
Out of the media, Preston hit a layup from under the basket, however two free throws from Iona brought the game back within four. However, a three from Dartis and layups from Preston and McDay, gave Ohio an eight-point lead with 13:18 left. The Bobcats and Iona traded three-point baskets, with Dartis hitting his third of the game, giving Ohio a 52-44 lead entering the media timeout.
A three-pointer from Preston out of the timeout gave the Bobcats an 11-point lead before Foster hit a layup to give the Bobcats their biggest lead of the game. After a three from Iona, redshirt freshman Mason McMurray (Stow, Ohio) hit a three of his own to give Ohio a 60-47 lead with 10:01 left in the game. Iona went on an 8-0 run to cut the Bobcats' lead to five, before McDay drained a three to give the Bobcats a 63-55 lead going into the media timeout.
After the timeout, the Bobcats and Gaels traded baskets over the next two minutes with Iona cutting the Ohio lead to 66-65 with 4:31 left. However, a dunk from Ogbonda, a three from Preston and another layup from Preston, put the Bobcats back up eight with 2:23 left in the game.
The Gaels brought the game back within five with 49 seconds left, however, the Bobcats hit their free throws over the remaining seconds, sealing the 81-72 victory.
Up next, The Bobcats continue their road trip on Saturday, Nov. 16 when Ohio heads to Philadelphia, Pa. to take on 10th ranked Villanova. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. inside the Wells Fargo Center and can be seen on FS2.
Ball State 67, Illinois-Chicago 48
Boxscore
CHICAGO -- It may be a little early to call it a trend, but over the past two games Ball State has been a second-half team.
The Cardinals outscored Evansville by 18 points after the break over the weekend, eventually falling just short against an Aces team that just took down No. 1 Kentucky.
And back on the road Wednesday night, BSU (2-1) pulled away from UIC (1-2) in the second half en route to a 67-48 victory at Credit Union 1 Arena.
Tahjai Teague led the way with 18 points and nine rebounds, carrying the scoring load when the Cardinals were struggling to score in the first half. Ishmael El-Amin finished with 14 points and six assists, while Josh Thompson added five assists without a turnover.
"Tahjai was great on both ends of the floor," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "Early on when we were having a tough time making shots, he got us going inside. As their defense started to overreact to him inside, he kicked it out. He really made great decisions."
Offensively, the Cardinals registered 17 assists and just five turnovers as a team.
Defensively, Ball State held UIC leading scorer Godwin Boahen to 1-of-17 shooting from the floor, including misses on his first 16 attempts. BSU harassed him with the trio of Thompson, K.J. Walton and Luke Bumbalough.
By the time Boahen hit his first field goal with a little more than two minutes to play, Ball State had built a 24-point lead.
"You can't guard a guy like that with one guy," Whitford said, "but I thought we did a great job of keeping our defense tight."
It was not a pretty first half, but Ball State took a 28-19 lead into the break after an opening 20 minutes in which the Cardinals shot just 36 percent from the floor but held UIC to just 19 percent. Teague scored nine straight BSU points to spark the team.
Tahj swats it away on one end ... gets it back from Ish on the other for the transition lay-in.
The Cardinals made only one 3-pointer in the first half, and that one was banked in by El-Amin. They made 6-of-14 from beyond the arc in the second half while pulling away for a wire-to-wire win.
Walton gave Ball State a third double-figure scorer with 12 points. He and Teague both came up one rebound shy of a double-double. Kyle Mallers finished with eight points, while Bumbalough and Jarron Coleman both added six.
Brachen Hazen did not score but collected seven rebounds and three blocked shots. The Cardinals swatted away eight shots as a team.
Ball State is back in action Sunday against Indiana State at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. on ESPN3.
Miami 84, IPFW 80
Boxscore
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Miami University men's basketball team exploded for 52 second half points as it earned its first victory of the season, 84-80, over Purdue Fort Wayne Wednesday evening. The RedHawks are now 1-1, while the Mastodons fall to 1-3.
Junior guard Nike Sibande led four in double figures for Miami with 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting. Junior forward Dalonte Brown was right behind him with 17 points.
Sophomore guard Mekhi Lairy had a career-high eight assists. One of his main targets was redshirt junior forward Precious Ayah down low. He finished with a career-high 12 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
Jumpers from Sibande and freshman guard Dae Dae Grant, along with a triple from redshirt junior guard Milos Jovic saw Miami quickly jump to a 7-2 lead. Purdue Fort Wayne went on a 10-2 run before Lairy found Ayah down low for the layup that cut the deficit to 12-11 with 12:47 remaining in the half.
The first career basket from freshman forward Javin Etzler put the RedHawks back on top. It started a 7-0 run that gave Miami an 18-12 advantage with 10:21 to go. Miami's offense went cold over the next five minutes allowing the Mastodons to go on a 16-4 spurt that put them in front, 28-22, at the 5:30 mark.
A triple from Sibande and a layup by Ayah got the RedHawk offense back on track. The Mastodons pushed the lead back to five before Lairy found Ayah for another layup and Etzler drained a three to tie the score at 32. PFW hit a three-pointer with 30 seconds to go to take a 35-32 lead into the break.
The second half started at a frenetic pace. Sibande drained a jumper on the first play. That was immediately followed by a steal and pass ahead to Sibande for a fast break windmill jam. Brown had two more fast break layups, while Sibande had another as part of a 10-2 run that made it 42-37 and forced a quick Mastodon timeout with 17:50 to go.
Leading 46-44, two triples from redshirt sophomore guard Isaiah Coleman-Lands and one from Brown helped Miami extend the lead to 57-50 at the 13:18 mark. Purdue Fort Wayne got it as close as three at 59-56, but a bucket from sophomore forward Elijah McNamara and another pass from Lairy to Ayah got it to 65-59 with 7:28 to go.
The Mastodons cut the deficit to three at 67-64 before a 11-3 run over the next three minutes gave Miami a 78-67 advantage with 2:55 remaining. Purdue Fort Wayne hit a couple of three pointers to get as close as four points at 80-76, but the RedHawks hit their free throws to secure the 84-80 win.
Coleman-Lands joined the Miami scores in double figures with 11. The RedHawks shot 31-for-64 (48.4 percent), including 17-for-29 (58.6 percent) in the second half. The teams tied the rebounding battle at 30. Purdue Fort Wayne was led by Brian Patrick with 23 points.
Miami returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Alabama A&M for its Celebrating Miami: Tribe and University game. Miami Athletics is proud of the partnership with the Myaamia Center, in conjunction with the relationship between Miami University and the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.
