Tuesday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 84, Western Michigan 69
Kent State 84, Toledo 77
Ohio 74, Eastern Michigan 68
Ball State 88, Buffalo 68
Central Michigan 68, Northern Illinois
Bowling Green 78, Miami 76
Stories courtesy of the Associated Press
Akron 84, Western Michigan 69
Boxscore
AKRON, Ohio -- Loren Cristian Jackson scored 26 points and Tyler Cheese added a season-high 25 points as Akron stretched its home winning streak to nine games, topping Western Michigan 84-69 on Tuesday night.
Xeyrius Williams had 11 points and eight rebounds for Akron (12-3, 2-0 Mid-American Conference). He made 3 of 4 3-pointers, Jackson hit 4 of 9 and Cheese made 3 of 7 as the Zips totaled 11 3-pointers in 29 attempts. They made 17 of 20 free throws and forced a season-high 22 turnovers, scoring 32 points after takeaways.
Michael Flowers had 30 points for the Broncos (8-7, 1-1) and Rafael Cruz Jr. added 16 points. Brandon Johnson had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Akron faces Ball St. at home on Friday. Western Michigan plays Toledo on the road on Saturday.
Kent State 84, Toledo 77
Boxscore
KENT, Ohio -- Antonio Williams, Danny Pippen and Philip Whittington scored 16 points apiece as Kent State won its eighth straight home game, defeating Toledo 84-77 on Tuesday night.
Troy Simons added 15 points and Anthony Roberts 11 for the Golden Flashes (12-3, 2-0 Mid-American Conference). Whittington also had 10 rebounds.
Marreon Jackson scored a career-high 32 points with seven 3-pointers for the Rockets (8-7, 0-2), whose losing streak stretched to five games. Willie Jackson added 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Kent State (12-3, 2-0) faces Central Michigan at home on Saturday. Toledo plays Western Michigan at home on Saturday.
Ohio 74, Eastern Michigan 68
Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio -- Jason Preston hit 3 of 4 from the free throw line in the final 21 seconds and Ohio held off a late rally to beat Eastern Michigan, 74-68 in a Mid-America Conference game on Tuesday night.
A three-time MAC East Player of the Week three this season, Preston finished with 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Boubacar Toure and Yeikson Montero hit back-to-back field goals to get Eastern Michigan within three, 68-65 with 1:16 left, but Lunden McDay answered with a 3 with :44 remaining. Shamar Dillard hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 3 points again with :36 left, but Preston closed the game out from the line.
Jordan Dartis paced Ohio (9-6, 1-1) with 26 points. McDay added 13 points and Ben Vander Plas and Nolan Foster each contributed 10 points.
Montero finished with 18 points, five rebounds and five steals to lead the Eagles (10-5, 0-2), with Ty Groce adding 12 points and Toure grabbing 10 rebounds.
Ball State 88, Buffalo 68
Boxscore
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Buffalo has been the unquestioned standard bearer in the Mid-American Conference for some time now. Back-to-back conference champions. NCAA tournaments in four of the past five years.
Tuesday night inside Worthen Arena it was all Ball State.
The Cardinals started fast, opened up a double-digit lead and never looked back on the way to an 88-68 victory in front of more than 4,800 fans.
Tahjai Teague led the way with a season-high 25 points and nine rebounds as BSU (9-6) improved to 2-0 in conference play with wins over both reigning division champions.
The teams will meet again Feb. 18 in Buffalo. But now Ball State turns its attention to another tough test with its first league road trip of the year to MAC East Division co-leader Akron. The game will tip Friday at 9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
Central Michigan 68, Northern Illinois
Boxscore
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. -- Kevin McKay scored 21 points but none so important as the game-winning layup off the glass as the final buzzer sounded on Central Michigan's come-from-behind 68-67 defeat of Northern Illinois on Tuesday night.
The clash between Mid-American Conference unbeatens was fought all the way to the wire and McKay's winner capped a nine-minute rally as the Chippewas (9-6, 2-0) came from 11 points down. Northern Illinois (8-7, 1-1) had taken a 67-63 lead on two Trendon Hankerson free throws with 14.8 seconds on the clock.
Devontae Lane erased most of that by converting a three-point play with 9.1 seconds to go. The Chippewas fouled and Northern Illinois missed the front end of a one-and-one. David DiLeo grabbed the rebound for Central Michigan and, with about three seconds left, whipped the ball to Lane, who raced past half-court and found McKay open near the basket.
DiLeo added 12 points and Lane 11 with six steals for Central Michigan, which won its ninth straight home game.
Eugene German led the Huskies with 20 points, Lacey James added 14 with seven rebounds.
Central Michigan takes on Kent State on the road on Saturday. Northern Illinois takes on Eastern Michigan at home on Saturday.
Bowling Green 78, Miami 76
Boxscore
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Caleb Fields scored at the basket with just over a minute left to put Bowling Green in front and Dylan Frye added two free throws with four seconds left to hold off Miami or a 78-76 Mid-American Conference East Division victory on Tuesday night.
Miami held a 45-36 advantage at intermission and led by as many as 12 points early in the second half, but Frye hit a 3-pointer with 11:03 left to get the Falcons even at 55-55 and Trey Diggs' 3-point play with 10:14 left put them in front.
Frye finished with 22 points and Tayler Mattos had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Bowling Green (10-5, 1-1). Justin Turner added 16 points and Daeqwon Plowden had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Dalonte Brown scored a season-high 20 points and had 11 rebounds for the RedHawks (7-8, 0-2). Dae Dae Grant added 11 points and six rebounds.
Bowling Green matches up against Ohio on the road on Saturday. Miami matches up against Buffalo at home on Friday.
