Saturday's MAC Men's Basketball Results
Toledo 71, Valparaiso 57
Akron 93, Malone 83
Indiana State 67, Ball State 57
Bradley 69, Miami 68
Syracuse 107, Buffalo 96 (OT)
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Toledo 71, Valparaiso 57
Boxscore
TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo pulled away in the second half to win its third straight game in a 71-57 non-conference victory over Valparaiso on Saturday afternoon in Savage Arena. The Rockets are now 6-3 this season, while the Crusaders dropped to 3-5.
Senior Marreon Jackson paced Toledo with a game-high 18 points and five assists. Also scoring in double figures were junior Setric Millner Jr. (14 pts.) and freshman Ryan Rollins (11 pts.).
Senior Spencer Littleson spearheaded the strong effort on the boards from the Rockets' backcourt with a career-high eight rebounds. Rollins grabbed seven boards, while Jackson collected six.
Sophomore Donovan Clay led Valparaiso with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Toledo is back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 22 when it hosts Northern Illinois at 2:00 p.m. in Savage Arena.
Akron 93, Malone 83
Boxscore
AKRON, Ohio (AP) Loren Cristian Jackson had 34 points and 10 assists as Akron topped Malone 93-83 on Saturday.
Jackson made 14 of 15 free throws.
Enrique Freeman had 22 points, 21 rebounds and three blocks for Akron (2-1). Maishe Dailey added 10 points.
Bo Myers had 23 points for the Pioneers. Marcus Ernst added 17 points and Bryce Butler had 14.
Indiana State 67, Ball State 57
Boxscore
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) Jake LaRavia had a career-high 27 points as Indiana State got past Ball St. 67-57 on Saturday.
LaRavia made 13 of 14 free throws.
Tyreke Key had 12 points for Indiana State (2-2). Randy Miller Jr. added 10 points. Cooper Neese had seven rebounds.
Ishmael El-Amin had 18 points for the Cardinals (3-3). K.J. Walton added 13 points and six rebounds. Jalen Windham had 10 points.
Indiana State plays Southeast Missouri at home on Tuesday. Ball St. plays Western Michigan on the road on Tuesday.
Bradley 69, Miami 68
Boxscore
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) Sean East II posted 14 points as Bradley edged past Miami (Ohio) 69-68 on Saturday night. Elijah Childs added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Braves, and Ville Tahvanainen chipped in 10 points.
Ari Boya had 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for Bradley (6-2).
Dalonte Brown had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the RedHawks (3-3). Dae Dae Grant added 17 points. Isaiah Coleman-Lands had 14 points.
Syracuse 107, Buffalo 96 (OT)
Boxscore
SYRACUSE, NY – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team led by as many as 16 points at ACC foe Syracuse on Saturday evening, but the Bulls were unable to hold on, being outscored 20-9 in overtime as the Bulls fell to the Orange, 107-96. The loss evens Buffalo's record at 3-3 on the year.
Buffalo held an 11-point lead at the break and that ballooned to a 16-point advantage before Syracuse began to comeback. The Orange used a huge advantage at the free throw line as Syracuse went 32-of-42 from the charity stripe, opposed to just 9-of-13 for UB. Over the final 25 minutes, the Orange went to line 30 times, while the Bulls only managed to get there five times.
Junior Jeenathan Williams had 10 points for the Bulls right out of the gate as UB opened a 15-12 lead. However, Williams played just over five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.
Leading by just one at 22-21, the Bulls went on a 17-4 run, which included six points from junior Josh Mballa and triples from Ronaldo Segu and Jayvon Graves, which put the Bulls ahead 39-27 with 4:58 left. UB went on to take an 11-point lead into the break.
Syracuse would cut it to nine early in the second half before the Bulls went on a 7-0 run as a layup from Graves gave the Bulls their largest lead of the night at 57-41 with 16:34 remaining. The Orange would begin to chip away over the final 10 minutes.
The Bulls led by eight with just over seven minutes left when an 11-3 Syracuse run tied the game up. There were four ties over the final four minutes of action, ultimately sending the game into overtime. UB forced OT as Segu drained a three-pointer with 15 seconds left, and UB would ultimately have a chance at the end, but a Graves dunk attempt was blocked, sending the game into the extra period tied at 87-87.
It was all Syracuse in the extra five minutes as they scored 20 points and led for the entire overtime period, extending the lead to as many as 13 late in that period.
Mballa led the Bulls with a career high 27 points, while adding seven rebounds. Graves had 22 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and four steals as he filled out the stat sheet in over 40 minutes of action.
Williams added 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Segu finished the night with 13 points and six dimes.
Senior Keishawn Brewton added 10 points, while David Nickelberry finished with three points and LaQuill Hardnett had two points and four boards.
The Bulls finished the night with 22 assists on 39 made baskets. The 39 made field goals are the most in a game since Nov. 11, 2019 against Nazareth. The 96 points scored by Buffalo is the most in a game against Syracuse since Duke scored 97 on Feb. 1, 2020.
UB continues its road trip on Tuesday at St. Bonaventure. Tip off is set for 4pm at the Reilly Center.
