FAIRBORN, OHIO – Danny Pippen's coffin corner three and Kent State's terrific defensive stop in the final three seconds pushed the Golden Flashes to a stunning 72-71 victory at the Ervin J. Nutter Center on Saturday night.

Kent State (3-0), which trailed by as many as 16, was once again able to withstand constant adversity throughout the game. Foul trouble and costly turnovers conspired against the Golden Flashes, but several clutch defensive plays and timely buckets brought KSU back in the waning moments of the second half. Pippen – who also banged a triple in overtime of Kent State's dramatic victory on Monday at Towson – was all alone in front of the KSU bench for the go-ahead triple.

"It was a great find by (Antonio) Williams. He did a great job on the baseline and then we went small in the final seconds and our guards did a great job of defending," Pippen said.

Pippen, who missed all of last year and parts of training camp with knee issues, finished 5-11 from the floor with 13 points and six rebounds. He tossed in an acrobatic and-one off the glass in the first half.

Antonio Williams led the Flashes with 18 points and seven assists – including the clutch game-winner. Phil Whittington added a double-double with 10 and 10 and Troy Simons hit four threes for 16 points and pulled down 11 boards. Anthony Roberts scored in double figures for the third straight game as well, finishing with 10.

The win makes Kent State 2-0 on the road in 2019-20 and improves the Flashes to 12-1 over the last two years in games decided by five points or fewer.

The Flashes return home and are back in action Tuesday, Nov. 19 as Kent State takes on Purdue Fort Wayne at 7 p.m.

 

TORONTO, ONTARIO – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team hit 8-of-14 from behind the arc in the second half as the Bulls rebounded from a slow start to defeat preseason Ivy League favorite Harvard, 88-76, in the opening game of the James Naismith Hall of Fame Classic played inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.  The Bulls are now 2-1 with the victory.

Harvard opened the contest with an early 12-3 run as UB found itself down nine. However, a strong defensive effort from the Bulls never allowed the Crimson the opportunity to pull away and the Bulls cut it to one on a three pointer from Ronaldo Segu midway through the first.

Harvard would increase their lead back to eight, but a pair of free throws from sophomore Josh Mballa cut it back to two, capping off a quick 9-3 run.  UB took its first lead of the half on a layup from sophomore Jeenathan Williams with 1:41 left and then Buffalo closed the half in style as junior Jayvon Graves hit a buzzer-beating three just inside half court, giving the Bulls a 40-38 lead at the break.

Harvard took a one-point lead early in the second half, but then senior Antwain Johnson started to heat up as he scored 16 points over the final 20 minutes of action. Leading 54-52, a Johnson triple ignited a 13-2 UB run in which the Bulls also got three pointers from Jayvon Graves and Davonta Jordan.

The Crimson were unable to get any closer than seven for the remainder of the game. Four straight points from Segu put the Bulls ahead 83-69 with 3:29 left and another three from Johnson gave UB its largest lead of the night at 88-73.

"I am proud of our guys," said head coach Jim Whitesell. "I thought we did a good job of hanging in there a little bit during the first 10 minutes.  Harvard was really working the boards and we were stumbling a little bit, but then we kind of got our legs underneath us and we finished that first half really strong.  I think the thing for us is that we are good shooting team if we move the ball and we had 20 assists tonight, which is really good."

The Bulls had four players in double figures led by Segu, who notched a career high for the second straight game with 21 points.  He was 6-of-7 from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 from three.  Segu also added five rebounds and six assists, while turning it over just once.

Johnson scored a career best 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc, while Graves added 18 points and six rebounds.  Sophomore Jeenathan Williams had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Jordan had eight points and seven assists, while Mballa finished with seven points, five boards, and four blocked shots.

After struggling from the free throw line in the first two games of the season, the Bulls shot much better from the charity stripe, going 13-of-15. Defensively, Buffalo forced Harvard into 17 turnovers. The Crimson also shot just under 37% from the floor and just over 26% from three point range.

The Bulls will now head down to the Charleston Classic which gets underway Thursday night.  UB will face UConn on the opening day.

TOLEDO, Ohio – A strong defensive performance and a 13-0 first-half run propelled the Toledo men's basketball team to a 70-56 triumph over Robert Morris in its home opener Saturday afternoon in Savage Arena. The contest improved the Rockets' record to 2-0 in the Men Against Breast Cancer Invitational heading into tomorrow's home matchup vs. Howard.

Toledo (2-1) limited the Colonials (1-4) to a 33.8 field-goal percentage, including a miniscule 29.7 shooting mark in the opening 20 minutes that led to a 39-29 halftime advantage. The Rockets held an 18-17 lead just under the nine-minute mark before taking control with a 13-0 spurt for a 31-17 cushion. UT's lead dipped into single digits on just one other occasion the remainder of the contest.

"I was really happy with our focus today," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk. "We are extremely unselfish, and our ball movement during that first-half run really sparked us today. Our defense also was solid against a team that's going to win a lot of games in its conference."

Redshirt freshman Keshaun Saunders and junior Spencer Littleson paced Toledo's offense with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Senior Luke Knapke also registered a double-double for the Rockets with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while senior Willie Jackson tied his career high with 16 rebounds.

Three Colonials scored in double figures with junior Jon Williams leading the way with 11 points. The Rockets held RMU's leading scorer, senior Josh Williams, to three points on 1-of-12 shooting.

OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University men's basketball team scored 50 second half points to down Alabama A&M 79-63 on Saturday afternoon at Millett Hall. Miami improves to 2-1 on the season.

Dalonte Brown led all scorers with 16 points. Joining him in double figures were Dae Dae Grant (15), Isaiah Coleman-Lands (12) and Nike Sibande (10). Brown made it a double-double with 14 rebounds.

The RedHawks used the triple to perfection all afternoon, draining 15 three-pointers. Eight different RedHawks converted on a three pointer and 11 different players scored ssin Saturday's win.

Miami opened the contest on a 16-7 run in the first 6:40. Milos Jovic began the contest with a dunk, followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Grant and Coleman-Lands. Jovic got loose for a lay-up and Grant added his second triple to give the RedHawks an early advantage.

Alabama A&M answered with a run of their own, taking their first lead of the game at 21-20 with 5:33 left in the opening 20 minutes. Coleman-Lands sank a three-pointer and Brown scored on an old-fashioned three point play to put Miami back up, 26-23.

Alabama A&M scored at the buzzer to take a 32-29 advantage into the locker room. Miami opened the second half on a 20-7 run. Sibande, who was held scoreless in the first half, drilled back-to-back three-pointers to begin the half. Elijah McNamara and Jovic converted easy looks and Grant then went on a run of his own, scoring 10 straight points for the Red and White.

The Miami onslaught continued following an Alabama A&M timeout. Coleman-Lands continued his hot shooting converting a pair of triples and Brown got in on the scoring, drilling a three of his own. Miami's lead was 58-41 with 12:25 to play in the contest.

A Bulldogs triple cut Miami's lead to 62-47 with 10:29 to play, but a Josh Brewer three, followed by a Sibande dunk pushed Miami's lead back to 20.

During Saturday's contest Miami celebrated its partnership with the Myaamia Center, in conjunction with the relationship between Miami University and the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. The team wore special uniforms in conjunction with this event.

 

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Down 70-65 in the second half with just over four minutes to play, David DiLeo banked in a 3-pointer to spark a 19-7 run and fuel the Central Michigan basketball team to an 84-77 win over defending Southland Conference champion Sam Houston State.

CMU improves to 3-0 while the Bearkats fall to 1-2.

"The way (SHSU) had been guarding that play earlier in the game, I kind of knew (what they were doing)," DiLeo said. "The guards (switched off me) so even if they jump out (to block the shot) the guard would be a little shorter. I felt like I could get it off."

"I felt like I shot it like my normal shot, it came off my hand a little wrong, but I guess when you're shot is feeling good, you can get a little lucky."

SHSU got off to a fast start with good ball movement and pesky defense. The lead would grow to as large as 27-15 in the first half for the Bearkats.

CMU would answer with a 15-6 run, triggered by a Kevin McKay basket that cut the lead to 33-32.

The second half featured seven lead changes between the two teams but CMU was strong late and was able to come out on top.

"We beat a really good, maybe even a great team (today) in Sam Houston State," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "Our fans aren't going to know a whole lot about them, but some of them may watch them this year. You're talking about possibly a 20-win team that'll be playing in the postseason. We knew had our hands full. They gave us everything we wanted and was really proud of our team to find a way to win today."

"SHSU will come out and disturb you. They'll force you into turnovers and sometimes force you to into 3-point shots. I think we saw both, you saw us turn it over, and you saw us take some shots we shouldn't have taken. Give them credit for distributing us the way that they did."

CMU shot 37.9 percent from the field and 28 percent from beyond the arc as compared to 43.8 percent overall and 40 percent from 3-point range by SHSU.

The big story was told at the free throw line. CMU hit 33 free throws while Sam Houston made just 13.

DiLeo and McKay led Central Michigan in scoring with 17 points each.

DiLeo shot 5-for-9 from the field including 4-for-7 from three and 3-for-4 from the line. McKay was 6-of-9 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the line.

"I think it was very important (to be balanced on offense) today especially with a team that's handsy and is all over the place," McKay said. "I feel that they were going into the game with a mindset that they didn't want one person to go off. It's important that we had contributions from everyone tonight. We had great contributions from Deschon Winston, Dallas Morgan and our whole team stepped up in every facet of the game."

Romelo Burrell collected a team-high eight rebounds. Guards Travon Broadway Jr. and Deschon Winston each had seven boards. Overall, CMU held a 43-38 rebounding advantage  

Despite struggling with its shot early, CMU would use the free throw line and Sam Houston's aggressiveness to its advantage.

SHSU committed 18 fouls in the first half and 16 in the second half. Two Bearkats fouled out while three others finished the game with four fouls.

CMU was in the bonus at the 13:26 mark and was in the double bonus at the 8:58 mark in the first half.

"I think, especially towards the end, (the free throws) are important," DiLeo said. "I always say to all the teams I've been on, in order to win, especially late, you have to take care of the ball and knock down free throws. We kind of struggled from the line for most of the game, but for some of our guys to step up and stay poised it was huge. It ended up winning us the game."

CMU will finish its four-game home stand with a game against Siena Heights on Monday, Nov. 18 (7 p.m.).

The Saints are 2-2 and will have a game against Concordia tonight before traveling to Mount Pleasant to face the Chippewas.

DENTON, Texas  – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team remains undefeated in the 2019-20 campaign after posting a 56-51 victory over the University of North Texas Saturday, Nov. 16, at the UNT Coliseum. The win is the first for EMU in the Lone Star State in six chances under Head Coach Rob Murphy. 

The first road test of the year for Eastern (4-0, 0-0 MAC), Murphy's squad fought back from deficits in both halves to defeat North Texas (1-3, 0-0 C-USA), a team that  posted 20-plus wins in each of the previous two seasons. 

Redshirt junior Ty Groce (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Lincoln) led EMU in scoring with 15 points, while also tallying three blocks and four steals. Groce has now recorded double-digit scoring efforts in three-of-four contests for the Green and White. Joining the Ypsilanti, Mich. native in double-digits was junior Yeikson Montero (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic-Redemption Christian Academy (Pensacola State)) who contributed 14 points, along with four assists and three steals. Montero's points and assist numbers tied career-bests for the first-year Eagle, matching his performances against Goshen, Nov. 12, and Michigan-Dearborn, Nov. 14, respectively. Redshirt senior Boubacar Toure (Dakar, Senegal-Phase One Academy (Grand Canyon)) pulled down a team leading eight rebounds and added two steals, anchoring a defensive effort that held the Mean Green to its second-lowest point total of the season.

As a team, Eastern Michigan shot 40.8 percent (20-49), while North Texas hit 37.5 percent from the field (18-48). Despite being out-rebounded, 34-31, and outscored in the paint, 20-18. The Green and White were able to collect 13 steals in the contest, helping to stifle the North Texas offensive attack. 

The Eagles went back-and-forth with UNT the entire contest. Up one, 23-22, with just over one minute to play in the first half, Eastern used back-to-back triples by Montero and Groce to extend its lead to seven, 29-22, the score that would remain heading into the break.

EMU was met by a rejuvenated North Texas squad out of the first half recess. The Mean Green hit three shots in-a-row to pull ahead, 33-32, five minutes into the half. The two teams went on to trade punches for the middle portion of the second half, as evident by the knotted score, 38-38, with 10:32 remaining. With 7:48 left in the contest, Montero hit a trey to put the Eagles up by five, 46-41. UNT battled for the remainder of the contest, but EMU proved too powerful in the end.

With 12 seconds left in the game, Groce came up with a clutch steal. After a UNT foul, junior Noah Morgan (Mount Vernon, N.Y.-Mount Vernon (Northwest Florida State)) knocked-in a pair of free throws before Toure contributed one as well, helping EMU to seal-the-deal, 56-51.

Following the win over North Texas, Eastern Michigan will fly to Montego Bay, Jamaica to play against UMBC Friday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. Part of the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic, the Eagles and Retrievers will square off for the first time in their respective program histories. Fans can follow the action on CBS Sports Network, or by following along on live stats at EMUEagles.com.

PHILADELPHIA – The Ohio men's basketball team (3-1) was unable to overcome a hot shooting Villanova (2-1) team. Falling to the 10th-ranked Wildcats, 78-54, Saturday afternoon inside the Wells Fargo Center. 

"I was really happy with the way we started," first year head coach Jeff Boals said. "If you really look at it, right at the eight-minute media timeout it was a one-point game. I thought we did a great job of following the game plan and rebounding a blocking out on transition defense. It was that one stretch from the 7:40 minute mark to halftime where Villanova just went on a run and opened the game up. They're really good. That's a top-10 team in the country. Their ability to make shots is why they're so good. If you look at that stretch, we did some things that we didn't talk about doing. Against a team like that your margin for error is small. At halftime we came in and talked about coming out and competing. And I am really proud of our guys."

Leading Ohio was redshirt sophomore Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) who registered a double double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Vander Plas went 8-of-15 from the field and 2-of-7 from three-point range. Sophomore Jason Preston (Orlando, Fla.) finished the game with 16 points, going 8-of-18 from the field while dishing out eight assists. graduate transfer Sylvester Ogbonda (Port Harcourt, Nigeria) finished with six points and eight boards. 

Overall, Ohio shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the field, 15.0 percent (3-of-20) from three-point range and 50.0 percent (5-of-10) from the free throw line, while Villanova shot 39.0 percent (23-of-59) from the field, 45.2 percent (14-of-31) from three-point range and 78.3 percent (18-of-23) from the free throw line. 

Ohio out-rebounded the Wildcats, 42-36, while Villanova dished out 18 assists to the Bobcats' 11. The Wildcats forced 16 Ohio turnovers and scored 18 points off of them, while the Bobcats scored 36 points in the paint. 

Ohio opened the game with the first five points of the game starting with two layups from Preston and a free throw from Vander Plas. However, Villanova went on a 7-0 run to take a 7-5 lead going into the first media timeout. 

Out of the timeout, the Bobcats tied the game on a layup from Vander Plas and a jumper from Preston. However, Villanova countered with a 6-0 run to take a 13-9 lead entering the next media timeout. 

After the Wildcats took a 15-9 lead out of the media, a layup from redshirt freshman Mason McMurray (Stow Ohio) and back-to-back layups form Vander Plas would cut the Villanova lead to one going into the under-eight media timeout. 

The Bobcats retook the lead out of the timeout after another Preston layup, however, Villanova countered, going on a 10-run to take a 26-17 lead, forcing the Bobcats to call a timeout with 4:22 left in the first half. The Wildcats stretched that into a 16-0 run before a layup by freshman Nolan Foster (Mattawan, Mich.) would stop the run. After a driving layup from Preston would cut the lead to 35-21 with 2:02 left, Villanova scored the next eight points to take a 43-21 lead into halftime. 

At the half, the Bobcats were shooting 40.0 percent from the field and did not hit a three, while Villanova shot 45.0 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from three-point range and 69.0 percent from the free throw line. 

Villanova out-rebounded the Bobcats 18-15, while forcing the ball over 10 time and scoring 12 points off of those turnovers. The Bobcats dished out four assists compared to the Wildcats' 10, while also scoring 16 points in the paint. 

Individually, Preston led all Bobcats with 10 points and three assists, while Vander Plas added seven points and six rebounds. 
Villanova recorded the first points of the second half before Ogbonda recorded Ohio's first points on a layup with the help from Preston. After a three from Nova, Vander Plas drained the Bobcats first three of the game, however Villanova went on a 5-0 run after the three to take a 56-28 lead going into the first media timeout. 

Out of the timeout, Vander Plas led the Bobcats on a 7-0 run where hit one three and connected on two layups to cute the Nova lead to 56-35. However, the Wildcats would hit a jumper and send the game to the next media timeout with the Bobcats trailing, 58-35. Out of the timeout, Ohio started on a 6-3 run, including a jumper from redshirt senior guard Jordan Dartis (Newark, Ohio), sending the game to the media with the Bobcats railing, 63-41. 

Out of the media timeout, the Bobcats got points from Ogbonda and Vander Plas before a three from Villanova pushed the Nova lead to 73-47 entering the final media timeout. Free throws from Dartis and Foster, along with a jumper and a three from redshirt freshman Nate Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) helped close out the game for the Bobcats, ultimately falling by the final of 78-54. 

For Villanova, the Wildcats has four score in double figures, including Saddiq Bey who scored 19 and Justin Moore who added 18. 

Up next, the Bobcats head to Conway, S.C. for the 2019 Myrtle Beach Invitational Nov. 21-24. Ohio will open the tournament Thursday, Nov. 21 when they take on No. 24 Baylor at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2.