ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. –  Ohio men's basketball (1-0) head coach Jeff Boals picked up his first victory as a Bobcat Tuesday evening (Nov. 5), as Ohio defeated St. Bonaventure (0-1) inside the Reilly Center. 

"I'm really proud of our guys," Boals said. "Number one, what a great atmosphere tonight. We tried to crank the noise the last couple days in practice. We had crowd noise. The fight song going. But we didn't do that justice. I have a ton of respect for Coach Schmidt. I worked for him for two years at Robert Morris and it's never easy going against one of your friends. But, i'm really proud of our guys and the effort level we played with for 40 minutes. We're down four scholarship kids and only have eight scholarship kids right now. We knew coming in that to give us any chance we had to compete for 40 minutes and play harder. I thought our guys did a good job of that."

Redshirt senior Jordan Dartis (Newark, Ohio) finished the game with 19 points in his first official game back after missing last season with an injury, going 7-of-15 from the field, 3-of-9 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Sophomore Jason Preston (Orlando, Fla.) finished the game with 11 points and a career-high 13 assists in 40 minutes on the floor. Redshirt freshman Nate Springs (Charlotte, N.C.) finished with nine points, going 3-of-4 from three-point range. Graduate transfer Sylvester Ogbonda (Port Harcourt, Nigeria) finished with a team-high seven rebounds. 

St. Bonaventure opened the game with the first bucket of the game, however Dartis got it right back, draining his first three-pointer of the game with 17:32 left in the half. After St. Bonaventure retook the lead at the 17:07 mark, a three from Ogbonda gave Ohio a 6-4 lead.

After another SBU jumper, Dartis' second three of the game up the Bobcats up five out of the media timeout. Dartis added his fifth-straight point at the 13:56 mark, extending the Ohio lead to 13-6. A three from Springs and a jumper from Preston with 11:35 left, pushed the Bobcats ahead 18-10, their largest lead of the game. 

A 6-0 run from the Bonnies cut the Ohio lead to 18-16, however redshirt sophomore Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) drained his first three of the game to put Ohio back up by five going into the under-eight media timeout. 

Both offense were on fire over the remaining eight minutes of the half, with the Bonnies cutting the Ohio lead to two with 4:23 left in the half. However, another three from Springs and a layup from freshman Nolan Foster (Mattawan, Mich.) gave Ohio a 30-23 lead with 1:24 left in the half. 

St. Bonaventure cut the lead to 30-25 with 30 seconds to go, however, a jumper from Preston as time expired gave Ohio the 32-25 lead going into the half. 

At the half, Ohio shot 52.2 percent from the field, 46.2 percent from three-point range and 52.2 percent from the free throw line, while St. Bonaventure shot 35.7 percent from the field, 12.5 percent from three-point range and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. Ohio was outrebounded 10-12, however they dished out nine assists compared to SBU's seven. The Bobcats also forced eight turnovers and scored 10 points off of them. 

Individually, Dartis led Ohio with 10 points, going 2-of-5 from three-point range, while Preston added six points and added seven assists. Springs also added six points for the Bobcats. 

After Ohio hit a free throw to open the half, St. Bonaventure went on a 6-0 run to cut the Ohio lead to 33-31, forcing a Bobcat timeout. 
After the timeout, Ohio stoped the run, getting back-to-back layups from freshman Lunden McDay (Akron, Ohio) and Ogbonda to give the Bobcats a 37-31 lead with 15:59 left in the game. The Bobcats continued the run with Springs draining his third three of the game and Preston hitting a jumper, giving Ohio a 42-31 lead with 14:06 left and forcing a St. Bonaventure timeout.

St. Bonaventure stopped the 9-0 Bobcat run with a three, however, Dartis followed it up with a layup as the shot clock was winding down. After a Foster layup gave Ohio a 10-point lead, a bucket from St. Bonaventure cut the Ohio lead to 46-38 with 10:16 left in the game. 

Out of the media timeout, the Bonnies would bring the game within six points, however, back-to-back layups from Dartis and Preston gave the Bobcats another 10-point lead with going into the under-eight media timeout. 

After a 4-0 run from St. Bonaventure cut the Ohio lead to six, a three from Dartis and another Ohio layup gave Ohio a 55-44 lead, forcing a St. Bonaventure timeout. 

After the timeout, St. Bonaventure cut the Ohio lead to nine with six minutes left in the game, however, Ohio didn't let up and went up 15 on a free throw with 3:20 left in the game to go up 62-47. 

Both teams kept fighting, however, the Bonnies were unable to put together a run over the final three minutes, helping Ohio seal the Bobcats' 65-53 lead. 

Overall, the Bobcats shot 47.1 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from three-point range and 56.3 percent from the free throw line. Meanwhile, St. Bonaventure shot 36.4 percent from the field, 15.8 percent from three-point line and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. The Bobcats were outrebounded 37-30, while Ohio dished out 17 assists to the Bonnies 11, while they also registered 10 steals to SBU's four. 

Up next, Ohio returns to the Convocation Center on Saturday, Nov. 9 when the Bobcats host Heidelberg for their 2019-20 home opener. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3.

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team opened its 2019-20 season on Tuesday (Nov. 5) night with a 94-73 victory over Tiffin University. The contest was played inside the Stroh Center.
 
The Falcons led for 39:27 of the game's 40 minutes. Bowling Green scored the first eight points of the contest, and cruised to victory. BGSU led by as many as 26 points. The Falcons have now won 14-straight season openers at home.
 
On the night, 11 different Falcons scored, led by redshirt-junior guard Justin Turner's 20-point night. Turner has now scored 20-plus points in 27 career games. Junior forward Daeqwon Plowden recorded the second double-double of his career, as he finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Bowling Green limited the Dragons to 36.0 percent (27-of-75) shooting, while the Falcons out-rebounded Tiffin on the night by a 61-33 margin. BGSU drilled seven three-pointers, and shot 48.6 percent (35-of-72) from the floor.?

AKRON, Ohio – The Akron men's basketball team opened the 2019-20 season with an 81-64 win over the visiting Pioneers from Malone University on Tuesday evening at James A. Rhodes Arena.
 
Senior transfer Xeyrius Williams (Springfield, Ohio) emerged as the Zips leading scorer, pacing Akron with 17 points and just missed a double-double debut by collecting nine rebounds. Seniors Channel Banks (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Tyler Cheese (Albany, Ga.) followed with 15 points apiece. Banks buried five 3-pointers on eight attempts en route to a 62.5 shooting percentage from deep while Cheese added a 3-of-5 effort from downtown.
 
Akron had five players score in double-digits as junior Camron Reece (Oakland, Ca.) totaled 13 points and six rebounds. Junior Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) also grabbed six rebounds to go along with 12 points. Senior Deng Riak (Melbourne, Australia) chipped in seven rebounds and four points.
 
The Zips started the game with a pair of 3-pointers as Williams buried the first bucket of the season followed by Banks. Akron led 6-0, but Malone fired back with a 10-0 run fueled by a layin, two free throws and a pair of triples. The Pioneers led by as many as six points, 16-10, before Akron began to cut into the lead.
 
The Zips used a series of 3-point attacks to regain control of the scoreboard as Williams started the run with an old-fashioned 3-point play. Cheese and Banks added long distance strikes and Reece capped the 11-2 run with an offensive rebound and put-back to give Akron a 21-18 advantage with 8:33 remaining in the first half.
 
The Zips outscored the visitors 18-12 in the final eight minutes of the first frame as freshman Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ind.) brought the JAR to its feet with a breakaway dunk. At halftime, Akron led 39-30.
 
In the second half, Akron and Malone traded buckets for the first four minutes until a 13-0 run propelled the Zips to a 58-39 advantage. Akron continued to put points on the scoreboard and established its largest lead of 22 points, thanks to a triple from Banks, 63-41. The Zips maintained the double-digit lead and Reece added some excitement as Williams fed him an alley-oop with 1:50 to play. Reece brought the crowd to its feet once again with a turnaround dunk in the paint.
 
Sehill Mouliom led the Pioneers scoring efforts with 23 points and added nine rebounds.
 
Akron continues the 2019-20 campaign on the road, traveling to Morgantown, W.Va. to play Big 12 conference member West Virginia. On Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m., the Zips are scheduled to play the Mountaineers at the WVU Coliseum. Former Zips' head coach Bob Huggins led his squad to the CBI postseason tournament last season. In addition, the Akron men's soccer team squares-off against the Mountaineers in Morgantown on Thursday night, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
 ?

MUNCIE, Ind. -- James Whitford looked out on the Worthen Arena court with about 10 minutes left in Tuesday's season opener and saw five freshmen on the floor for his Ball State team.
 
"It's been a long time since I've seen that," Whitford said.
 
It was a night of debuts as the Cardinals unveiled a total of six new players, including three true freshmen and a pair of redshirts in an 87-43 win over Defiance.
 
Jarron Coleman played in last year's exhibition game but then spent the rest of the season in a redshirt role, practicing each day but awaiting his chance under the lights. He took full advantage of his first real playing experience Tuesday, stuffing the state sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
 
True freshman Luke Bumbalough, an Indiana Mr. Basketball finalist last year, flashed his skill with a trio of 3-pointers and three assists without a turnover.
 
Meanwhile, the veterans led the way in the scoring column. Kyle Mallers paced a balanced attack with 12 points, while Tahjai Teague and K.J. Walton added 11 each. They also got plenty of time as spectators, watching their young teammates in the runaway win.
 
"They're freshmen, but they don't play like it." Teague said. "We had a long summer with them. They're more advanced than other freshmen would be because we had the trip to Costa Rica. So it's just been teaching them the little things, and the big things they pretty much figured out from just being here."
 
Lucas Kroft (six points), Miryne Thomas (five), Ben Hendriks and Kani Acree also saw their first action for Ball State. Only Thomas, a transfer and former All-MEAC Rookie selection at Maryland Eastern Shore had ever played in a college game.
 
Ball State played well together in its first action of the 2019-20 season, racking up 21 assists on 33 made baskets. The Cardinals limited Defiance to 29 percent shooting and just 17 percent from 3-point range.
 
"I thought our guys played with good intent tonight," Whitford said. "When we stretched out a lead, I thought we looked like a mature team out there. We made a lot of mistakes, but we didn't let it get careless or reckless."
 
Ball State returns to action Saturday with a trip to Evansville for a 7 p.m. CT (8 ET) tipoff against the Aces at the Ford Center. The teams split two meetings a year ago with each winning on its home floor. The game will serve as Evansville's season opener.?

VALPARAISO, Ind. – Toledo's frantic rally in the final minute fell just short on Tuesday evening in the Rockets' 79-77 defeat at Valparaiso in the season opener for both schools.

Junior Marreon Jackson led Toledo with a career-high 27 points and seven assists, including two free throws to knot the score at 77-all with 13 seconds remaining. The Crusaders' Javon Freeman-Liberty broke the deadlock though by hitting a jumper just inside the free-throw line with four seconds left to give Valpo the victory. The Rockets weren't able to get a last-second shot off before the buzzer sounded.

"We fought hard tonight and came back to tie but Valpo made a play at the end," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "There were a lot of good things I saw out there tonight and also some areas we need to work on. We can learn a lot from a game like this on the road against a quality opponent like Valpo."

Jackson was joined in double figures by redshirt freshman Keshaun Saunders, who tallied 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting in his collegiate debut. Senior Luke Knapke and junior Spencer Littleson also were in double digits with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Senior Willie Jackson led the Rockets on the boards with 10 rebounds, but the Crusaders held a 40-31 advantage on the glass.

Senior Ryan Fazekas topped the Crusaders with 23 points with Freeman-Liberty adding 19 points.

Toledo returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 10 with a trip to Huntington, W. Va. to face Marshall. Tip-off time is set for 2:00 p.m.