Friday's Scoreboard
Bowling Green 77, WKU 75
Eastern Michigan 62, UMBC 45
Buffalo 76, Towson 73
Utah 80, Ohio 66
Oaklahoma State 70, Western Michigan 63
Story Courtesy of the Associated Press
Bowling Green 77, WKU 75
Box Score
ST. THOMAS, U.S VIRGIN ISLANDS -- Justin Turner scored 27 points and hit the game-winner with a pretty jump shot in the final four seconds as Bowling Green edged Western Kentucky 77-75 in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Friday night.
Dylan Frye had 19 points for Bowling Green (4-1).
The Falcons had fallen behind 74-67 with five minutes remaining, but rallied as Western Kentucky saw a sequence of missed 3, turnover, missed 3, miss and then made one of two free throws with 41 seconds left.
Bowling Green threatened for 10 seconds around the basket, grabbing a series of offensive rebounds and surviving a Charles Bassey blocked shot before Caleb Fields tipped the ball home, cutting the lead to 75-74
The Hilltoppers missed a free throw that Turner rebounded and drove hard downcourt, pulling up at the free throw line to arc his winning jumper over a defender.
Taveion Hollingsworth had 19 points for the Hilltoppers (4-1), whose four-game season-opening win streak was broken. Charles Bassey added 19 points with 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals. Carson Williams had 14 points.
Bowling Green matches up against Cincinnati Saturday while Western Kentucky meets Illinois State as the tournament continues.
Eastern Michigan 62, UMBC 45
Box Score
ST. JAMES, Jamaica -- Noah Morgan and Yeikson Montero combined to score 21 points and Eastern Michigan breezed to a 62-45 victory over Maryland-Baltimore County in the Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay on Friday.
Morgan finished with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists for the unbeaten Eagles (5-0). Montero hit 2 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 10. Ty Groce added 11 rebounds and five steals.
K.J. Jackson topped the Retrievers (4-2) with seven points and he had four of their 26 turnovers. L.J. Owens, who came in averaging 12 points per game, made just 1 of 6 shots, and scored three.
Buffalo 76, Towson 73
Box Score
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Jayvon Graves had 25 points and Josh Mballa had a tip-in with 23.4 seconds left that put Buffalo ahead to stay in a 76-73 victory over Towson at the Charleston Classic on Friday night.
The Bulls (3-2) appeared done when Allen Betrand hit a 3-pointer to put Towson up 69-62 with two minutes left. But Buffalo finished with a 14-4 run to move into Sunday's fifth-place game with Missouri State.
The Tigers (2-4) will play Saint Joseph's on Sunday to see who avoids going 0-for-Charleston.
Mballa began Buffalo's frantic run to the end with a basket while Graves and Jeenathan Williams each had two free throws to draw within 71-70.
Graves missed a layup before the 6-foot-7 Mballa skied high for the tip in.
Towson's Jason Gibson missed a 3-pointer on the next possession and Graves added two more from the foul line.
Mballa finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Brian Fobbs had a season-high 22 points for Towson.
Utah 80, Ohio 66
Box Score
CONWAY, S.C. -- Timmy Allen scored 19 points and Utah beat Ohio 80-66 on Friday night in a Myrtle Beach Invitational consolation game.
Both Gach had 18 points and Rylan Jones finished with 17 points to help the Utes (4-1) bounce back from a loss to Coastal Carolina in the quarterfinals. They shot 49%, led by 21 and turned 14 turnovers into 26 points.
"It was ugly last night," coach Larry Krystkowiak said of the Coastal Carolina loss. "We broke down the film and we were deficient in a lot of different areas. I thought we bounced back really well. We came out with a great focus, we played hard and we shared the basketball."
Utah missed 11 of its final 12 shots and did not make a field goal in the final 5 minutes -- but made up for that by making 27 of 28 free throws, including 13 of 14 down the stretch. Only Riley Battin's miss with 29 seconds remaining -- on the team's final attempt -- kept the Utes from being perfect at the line.
"They're called free for a reason and often times they get overlooked," Krystkowiak said. "It's not the fact that you make most of them, it's the one-and-ones. Those little things add up and 27 points is remarkable for our guys."
Jason Preston scored 21 points and Ben Vander Plas added 13 for the Bobcats (3-3), who have lost three in a row.
The Utes, who began the tournament shooting 40% from 3-point range, made 47% of their long-range attempts after they hit just 18% against the Chanticleers.
Oaklahoma State 70, Western Michigan 63
Box Score
STILLWATER, Okla. -- Yor Anei found multiple ways to help the Oklahoma State men's basketball team stay undefeated.
Anei scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots and the Cowboys beat Western Michigan 70-63 on Friday night in a campus game of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament.
The sophomore starting center had his third double-double and his 11th game with four or more blocks.
"He's playing with more confidence in there," coach Mike Boynton said. "Playing better on balance, and obviously being as effective as he was on the defensive end in terms of being a rim protector."
Thomas Dziagwa added 11 points for OSU (5-0) and Isaac Likekele scored 10 points and four steals, including three steals within the first four minutes.
The Broncos stayed close throughout the game and closed to 35-34 at halftime after Michael Flowers nailed a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the first half.
The score was tied at 61 with 2:28 left, but Anei made an alley-oop dunk to put OSU up 63-61. The Cowboys led the rest of the game.
"I've said this before, give me all of these two-, three-, four-possession games this time of year," Boynton said. "Because I know for a fact, when the calendar turns (to Big 12 play), that's what we're dealing with."
The Cowboys shot 37.5% from the field and 7 of 25 from beyond the arc.
OSU had 22 bench points and every available first-year Cowboy played.
The Broncos (4-2) shot 40% from the field (23 of 57) and made nine of 29 shots from 3 (31%).
"Another possession game, another opportunity for our team to learn how to win in close games late," Boynton said. "Credit to our players for making the plays late, especially, I thought Yor was really, really active defensively and helped seal the game for us."
