Bowling Green Clinches Trip To Cleveland
Friday's Scoreboard
Buffalo 77, Miami 69
Bowling Green 77, Kent State 72
Stories Courtesy of The Associated Press
Buffalo 77, Miami 69
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio -- CJ Massinburg shook off an injury and scored 20 points Friday night, leading No. 21 Buffalo to a 77-69 victory over Miami (Ohio) that clinched a share of the Mid-American Conference title.
The Bulls (26-3, 14-2) were denied a chance to win the regular-season championship outright when second-place Bowling Green beat Kent State 77-72 earlier Friday.
Buffalo opened the game with an 18-point run and never trailed while winning its seventh straight overall. Miami (15-14, 7-9) got the lead down to 70-67 with 2:30 left on Dalonte Brown's free throws, but Dontay Caruthers' three-point play blunted the comeback.
Bam Bowman led Miami with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Bulls' opening run featured a pair of 3s by Jayvon Graves. The Redhawks were still scoreless at the first media timeout, missing five shots and turning it over three times.
Nike Sibande led a 14-0 run that helped Miami cut it to 37-33 at halftime. Massinburg scored seven straight points as Buffalo rebuilt the lead to 15 points and withstood Miami's closing surge.
The Bulls got a scare during their opening run when Massinburg, their leading scorer at 18.7 points per game, hurt his lower left leg on a reverse layup. He limped off but returned a few minutes later.
Bowling Green 77, Kent State 72
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Justin Turner had 18 points as Bowling Green edged past Kent State 77-72 on Friday night.
Antwon Lillard had 14 points for Bowling Green (20-9, 12-4 Mid-American Conference). Demajeo Wiggins added 13 points and eight rebounds. Daeqwon Plowden had three blocks for the home team.
Jaylin Walker had 26 points for the Golden Flashes (20-9, 9-7). Antonio Williams added 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Philip Whittington had seven rebounds.
The Falcons improve to 2-0 against the Golden Flashes for the season. Bowling Green defeated Kent State 86-64 on Jan. 5. Bowling Green plays Akron on the road on Tuesday. Kent State takes on Miami (Ohio) on the road on Tuesday.
