The Final Four Punch Tickets To Cleveland
Monday's Scoreboard
Central Michigan 81, Western Michigan 67
Northern illinois 80, Ohio 61
Ball State 61, Eastern Michigan 43
Akron 80, Miami 51
Stories Courtesy of the Associated Press
Central Michigan 81, Western Michigan 67
Box Score
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. -- Larry Austin Jr. had 24 points and 13 rebounds as Central Michigan topped Western Michigan 81-67 in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tourney on Monday night. Shawn Roundtree added 20 points for the Chippewas.
Roundtree also had six assists for the Chippewas.
David DiLeo had 14 points for Central Michigan (22-10). Dallas Morgan added 10 points.
Seth Dugan had 29 points and 17 rebounds for the Broncos (8-24). Michael Flowers added 13 points. Kawanise Wilkins had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Northern illinois 80, Ohio 61
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team led wire-to-wire as it defeated Ohio, 80-61, on Monday night in the First Round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at the NIU Convocation Center. With the victory, NIU advances to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland to face Toledo on Thursday night, March 14, in the quarterfinals.
Junior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a game-high 23 points, senior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) had 18 points and senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) chipped in 14 as the Huskies earned their third-straight victory.
NIU (16-16) shot 56.1 percent (32-of-57) from the field, including 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from three-point range, while holding Ohio to just 38.9 percent (21-of-54) and 11.1 percent (2-of-18) from three.
Ball State 61, Eastern Michigan 43
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Tahjai Teague recorded 15 points as Ball St. topped Eastern Michigan 61-43 in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tourney on Monday night. Ishmael El-Amin added 12 points for the Cardinals, who held the Eagles to 29.4 percent shooting, the lowest mark of the season for a Ball St. opponent.
Tayler Persons had 12 points and six rebounds for Ball St. (16-16). K.J. Waltonadded eight rebounds.
Ball St. entered halftime trailing 29-23, but the Cardinals were able to outscore the Eagles 38-14 in the second half to pull away for the victory. The Eagles' 14 points in the second half marked a season low for the team.
Paul Jackson had 12 points for the Eagles (15-17). Kevin McAdoo added 11 points. James Thompson IV had nine rebounds.
Elijah Minnie, the Eagles' second leading scorer coming into the contest at 14 points per game, scored 6 points (2 of 10).
Akron 80, Miami 51
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio -- Loren Cristian Jackson had 25 points as Akron romped past Miami (Ohio) 80-51 in the Mid-American Conference Tourney first round on Monday night. Daniel Utomi added 20 points for the Zips.
Jackson hit 5 of 7 3-pointers. He added six assists.
Jimond Ivey had 14 points and six assists for Akron (17-15). Tyler Cheese added six rebounds.
Akron posted a season-high 17 3-pointers. Meanwhile, the RedHawks' 25.0 field goal percentage represented the worst mark by an Akron opponent this season.
Nike Sibande had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the RedHawks (15-17).
