Recaps courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments

Ohio 85, Portland 73
Boxscore
CONWAY, S.C. –  Led by a monster afternoon from senior forward AJ Clayton, the Ohio men's basketball team (2-4) got back in the win column Friday afternoon (Nov. 22), defeating Portland (2-4), 85-73, at the Myrtle Beach Invitational inside the HTC Center. Clayton's 34 points set a new career-high.
 
The win also marked head coach Jeff Boals' 100th victory at Ohio. 
 
Individually, Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) scored 34 points, going 13-of-26 from the field and 6-of-14 from three, while grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) added 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while graduate student forward Vic Searls (Hilliard, Ohio) added 11 points, while going 5-of-8 from the field. Junior guard Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) added 10 points,10 assists and five rebounds for his second-straight double double. Paveletzke is one assist away from setting the all-time tournament record for assists at the event. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 45.2 percent from the field, 32.4 percent from three and were 8-of-11 from the line, while Portland shot 46.7 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three and were 13-of-21 from the line. Ohio outrebounded the Pilots, 43-36, while the Bobcats dished out 20 assists to Portland's 12. Ohio also forced 13 turnovers and scored 14 points off them. 
 
Portland won the tip, but the Bobcats got on the board first with a three from Clayton. After the two teams traded baskets, Portland tied the game at 6-6, redshirt sophomore guard AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.) and Clayton hit back-to-back threes to give Ohio a 12-6 lead going into the first media timeout. After Portland cut the Ohio lead to four, the Bobcats' offense went to work. Another three from Clayton, a jumper from Paveletzke and a layup from Searls put Ohio up 11. The Pilots stopped the Ohio run, but a three at the top of the key from Searls capped a 7-0 run for Ohio, giving the Bobcats a 26-10 lead with 11:36 remaining in the half. 

After Portland cut the Ohio lead to 11, another three from Clayton gave the Bobcats a 14-point lead. After a free throw from Portland cut the lead to 12, layups from Brown and back-to-back layups from Seals put the Bobcats up 39-23 entering the final media timeout. 
 
Out of the timeout, a three from Hadaway put the Bobcats up 17, however a jumper and a free throw from Portland cut into the Ohio lead. But with two seconds remaining in the half, Paveletzke capitalized on a jumper, giving the Bobcats a 46-30 lead going into the half. 
 
At the half, Ohio shot 53 percent from the field, were 7-of-17 from three and were 1-of-2 from the line, while Portland shot 38 percent from the field, were 0-of-7 from three and went 8-of-11 from the line. Ohio out-rebounded Portland, 23-16, while Ohio dished out 11 assists and had two blocks. 
 
Ohio opened the half with the first basket on a layup from Clayton, however a 9-0 run from Portland cut the Ohio lead to nine. Clayton stopped the run with a jumper and followed it up with a driving layup from Seals helped give the Bobcats a 52-41 lead going into the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, a layup from Hadway put Ohio back up 13, but four-straight points from Portland cut the Ohio lead to 54-46 with 13:43 remaining. After a three-point play from Hadaway put Ohio back up 11, a three from Portland erased the effort, cutting the Ohio lead to 57-49 with 11:17 remaining in the game. 
 
Moments later, a three from junior guard Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) started a 13-4 run for the Bobcats, giving Ohio a 70-53 lead for Ohio with 8:14 remaining in the game. Out of the timeout, a driving layup and another three from Clayton put Ohio up 22, however, a 7-0 run from Portland cut the Bobcats lead to 75-60 with 6:13 remaining in the game. 
 
Out of the final media timeout, free throws from James gave Ohio a 19-point lead, however an 8-0 run from Portland cut the Ohio lead to 11 with 2:11 remaining in the game. After Portland cut the Ohio lead to eight. Free throws from Paveletzke and a layup and a thundering dunk from Clayton in the final seconds sealed the deal for the Bobcats, giving Ohio the 85-73 victory. 
 
Ohio is back in action on Sunday, Nov. 24 for the final day of the 2024 Myrtle Beach Invitational. The Bobcats will take on Texas State at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. 

Akron 79, Lamar 72
Boxscore

AKRON, Ohio - The Akron men's basketball team opened the Akron Basketball Classic with a 79-72 victory over the Lamar Cardinals at James A. Rhodes Arena on Friday. 

The Zips (2-2) had three players score in double figures, led by Tavari Johnson, who had 17 points, four assists and two steals. Amani Lyles added a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and Isaiah Gray chipped with 10 points.

Led by Lyles' six offensive rebounds, Akron did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 21 boards that resulted in seven second chance points. Gray collected five offensive boards while Marvin Musiime-Kamali and James Okonkwo each pulled in three.

Akron forced 19 Lamar turnovers while committing 10 themselves in Friday's game. The Zips turned those takeaways into 23 points on the offensive end of the floor. Josiah Harris' two steals led the way for Akron.

After jumping out to a 12-7 advantage, Akron went on a 9-0 run with 10:32 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Nate Johnson, to increase its lead to 21-7. The Zips then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 35-23 advantage. Akron did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 20 of its 35 points close to the basket.

Akron kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run to grow the lead to 76-62 with 1:32 to go in the contest. The Cardinals narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Zips still cruised the rest of the way for the 79-72 win. Akron got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 19 of its 44 total points.

Buffalo 82, Morgan State 73
Boxscore
BUFFALO, N.Y. – A second half surge by the University at Buffalo men's basketball team (3-3, 0-0 MAC) propelled them to an 82-73 victory over the visiting Morgan State Bears (3-4, 0-0 MEAC) on Friday evening.
 
Freshman Brayden Jackson had a breakout performance for the Bulls as he scored a career-high 18 points going 8-for-11 from the floor. He added 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 steal against the Bears. Tyson Dunn scored 22 points with 8 assists, 6 rebounds, a game-high 4 steals and 1 block. Ryan Sabol rounded out the Bulls' double-digit scorers with 12 points. The sophomore three-point specialist added 3 threes to his career total of 84.
 
The Bulls were disciplined on the defensive end as they had just one shooting foul on the night as Morgan State was just 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Buffalo went 15-for-25 from the line.
 
Buffalo recorded a season-high in steals with 10 which translated to 24 points off turnovers, also a season high.
 
Buffalo dominated the paint outscoring Morgan State, 52-30. The last time Buffalo scores at least 50 points in the paint was on Feb. 10, 2024, at Georgia Southern when they scored 50.
 
It was a battle on the court between the Bulls and Bears. In total, there were 25 lead changes and nine ties. On the season, the Bulls only had 21 lead changes.
 
Buffalo was 12-for-30 (40.0%) from the floor in the first half to Morgan State's 16-for-36 (44.4%). The Bears knocked down 4 three-pointer compared to the Bulls' 1. It was back and forth in the first half as there were 16 lead changes. Tied at 28 with 4:09 to go in the half, the Bears ended the half on an 8-3 run to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room.
 
Buffalo's offense exploded in the second half. The Bulls scored 51 points in the half as they went 19-for-25 (76.0%) from the floor. The last time the Bulls scored at least 50 points in a half against a Division I team was on Feb. 7, 2023, against Eastern Michigan when they scored 58 points. To start the half, Morgan State took their largest lead of the game up 41-31 just 50-seconds into the half. Slowly the Bulls made their charge. Sabol drilled a three to tie the game at 44, and shortly after, Dunn buried a go ahead three of his own to put the Bulls in front, 49-46. With five minutes remaining, the Bulls led, 63-62. Under Head Coach George Halcovage III, the Bulls improved to 7-0 when they lead with five minutes to go. In the clutch moments down the stretch, Buffalo put the game away with a 7-0 scoring run, their best run on the night. Bryson Wilson sealed the game with a steal and a fastbreak layup followed by a defensive rebound and a pair of made free throws.
 
"Just a great team effort and team win for us tonight," stated Halcovage. "We were down at half, and I thought our defensive energy for the majority game was great. They made some really tough shots, so credit to Morgan State. We did not foul and did a really good job taking away what they really love to do. They only got to foul line two times, and I think that was a difference in the game. We got to the line 25 times, but we only made 15 of them. We know we need to improve our foul shooting as a team, but we got there, and we were the more physical team tonight. I know they beat us up in the offensive glass a little bit at times, but that's what they do. I thought when we needed to in the end, our guys just really buckled down and got the rebounds, got the stops we needed, and made the right plays. I'm just really, really proud of these two guys [Tyson Dunn & Brayden Jackson] more for their overall effort on the defensive end. These guys are really finishing on the offensive end, took the right shots at the right times, made the right plays, and that was the difference in the game. I think defense is what got it done."
 
The Bulls are back in action on Monday as they host the North Carolina A&T Aggies (3-2, 0-0 CAA) in game two of the Buffalo Classic. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Toledo 82, Jacksonville State 80
Boxscore
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Toledo men's basketball team rallied from a 10-point deficit early in the second half and made big plays down the stretch en route to an 82-80 victory over Jacksonville State (4-2) on Friday evening in the semifinals of the Boardwalk Battle. The Rockets (5-1) will face UC San Diego (4-2) in tomorrow's championship game at 5:30 p.m.

"Our energy in the second half was the difference in the game," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said after his squad extended its winning streak to five games. "I'm really proud of our guys and their effort. We beat a really good, physical team that tried to slow us down. This was a big win that will help us learn a lot about ourselves."

Sophomore Sam Lewis paced a balanced Rocket attack with 16 points, including three three-pointers in the second half to spur UT's rally. Also scoring in double figures were senior Isaiah Adams (14 pts.), senior Andre Lorentsson (12 pts.), sophomore Sonny Wilson (12 pts.) and junior Seth Hubbard (11 pts.).

Wilson also grabbed a team-high five rebounds, while Adams dished out a season-high six assists.

Toledo shot 46.2% from the field and continued to protect the basketball by committing a season-low four turnovers. The Rockets also connected on a season-high 14-of-25 three-point field goals for a sizzling 56.0 mark from downtown.

The Rockets trailed by a 41-34 margin at halftime but quickly tied the score at 48-48 on Jaylan Ouwinga's layup with 14:14 to play. Toledo eventually pushed its lead to 64-56 five minutes later on a Lewis layup.

The Gamecocks rallied and hit two free throws with 1:43 remaining to trim Toledo's lead to 74-73. Lorentsson buried a three on the Rockets' ensuing possession, and Wilson followed a JSU turnover with a floater in the paint for a five-point lead with 38 seconds left.

Jacksonville State had a chance to win the game after Toledo missed the front end of a one-and-one but a 30-footer at the buzzer rimmed out.