Monday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Ball State 63, Eastern Kentucky 61
Buffalo 82, North Carolina A&T 81
Eastern Michigan 74, Houston Christian 73
Miami 70, Siena 58
Minnesota 68, Central Michigan 65
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Ball State 63, Eastern Kentucky 61
Box Score
ESTERO, Fla. – The Ball State men's basketball team got a go-ahead and-1 from Payton Sparks with 15 seconds to play to top Eastern Kentucky 63-61 on Monday afternoon at the Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena.
The Cardinals trailed 61-57 before Mickey Pearson Jr. drained a 3-pointer from the right corner at the 1:07 mark of the second half to pull Ball State within a point. Sparks later made the left-handed layup and hit the free throw to provide for the game's final score. Jermahri Hill secured a closing rebound in the final second after the Cardinals forced an EKU miss.
Ball State (2-4) led much of the first half before the Colonels (3-2) went on a 9-0 rally late in the opening period to take a 36-29 lead into halftime. The Cardinals scored the first seven points of the second half to knot the score at 36-all, and a later 9-0 Ball State scoring run put the Cards ahead 47-43 with 12:25 left to play.
Hill went for a team-best 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks, while Sparks (12 points, four rebounds, two assists) and Pearson Jr. (11 points, five rebounds) also scored in double-figures for Ball State. Juanse Gorosito hit a trio of triples for nine points and tallied three steals. Ethan Brittain-Watts (five points), Jeremiah Hernandez (four) and TJ Burch (four) also made important offensive contributions in a tight contest.
There were 11 ties and 13 lead changes in the back-and-forth affair. Ball State outshot Eastern Kentucky, going 48.9 percent (22-45) from the field including 35.3 percent (6-17) on 3-pointers while making 68.4 percent (13-19) of its free throws. The Colonels were limited to 31.1 percent (19-61) on field goals, 25 percent (6-24) from distance and 65.4 percent (17-26) on foul shots.
Eastern Kentucky had advantages in rebounding (41-31) and turnovers (18-12) and got 23 points and 11 rebounds from Devontae Blanton, but the almost 18-point spread in field goal shooting percentage put the Cardinals over the top in the opening tilt of the showcase, which features three games in three days for six teams.
Ball State controlled the interior to the tune of a 30-20 edge on points in the paint.
Next up for the Cardinals is a game with Florida Tech at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Hertz Arena.
Buffalo 82, North Carolina A&T 81
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – In the closing seconds of regulation, the University at Buffalo men's basketball team (4-3, 0-0 MAC) used a 5-0 run to defeat the visiting North Carolina A&T Aggies (3-3, 0-0 CAA), 82-81. With win gave the Bulls their fourth of the season, matching last year's total. The last time Buffalo headed into the month of December with at least four wins came in 2021-22 when they went 4-2 in November.
Sophomore guard Ryan Sabol scored a team-high 22 points as he was 3-for-6 from three-point range. He has now made 25 threes on the season to go with his third 20-point game of the year. Anquan Boldin Jr. scored 14 points with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Tyson Dunn almost had his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Dunn, one of the national leaders in assists, is up to 48 on the season. Ben Michaels rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Bulls with 13.
Defensively, Boldin Jr. and Brayden Jackson had a pair of blocks apiece.
The Bulls improved to 3-0 on the season when they outshoot teams as the Bulls finished 40.6% from the floor to the Aggies' 40.0%.
Buffalo nearly held the lead for the entirety of the first half as they led for 18:24 to North Carolina A&T's 24-seconds. The Bulls managed to lead by 9 points three times in the half as they shot 16-for-36 (44.4%) from the floor. Following the last media timeout in the half with 4:30 to go, the Aggies buckled down and outscored the Bulls, 11-6 to tie the game at the half at 43.
The Bulls managed to start the second half on a 4-0 run to take a 47-43 lead, but the Aggies used a 10-0 run to take a 53-47 lead. This was the largest run of the game for either team. With momentum shifting in favor of the visitors, a pair of technical fouls gave the Bulls life. Down 59-55, Sabol went to the line and made one of the two free throws after the first technical. Now down just three and maintaining possession, Sabol drilled a three to tie the game at 59 with 14:18 to go. With the Aggies dribbling up the court, the refs called a technical on their head coach. Sabol returned to the line and made both free throws to give Buffalo the 61-59 lead. In just 10-seconds of game action, the Bulls went on a 6-0 run. Down the stretch, the Aggies were able to maintain a 5-point lead three times.
With 26-seconds to go, the Aggies led, 81-77. With the ball in Dunn's hands, he drilled a three to make it 81-80 with 17-seconds left. The Bulls put the Aggies to the free throw line after fouling after the inbounds pass, but they missed the one-and-one. Noah Batchelor snatched the defensive rebound, he then dished it off to Dunn who went to the basket and was fouled on the way up with 8-seconds to go. Dunn made both free throws as he gave the Bulls the 82-81 lead. North Carolina A&T went down the court and chucked up a three-pointer which hit glass and went out of bounds with just half a second remaining. Buffalo had possession and threw it the length of the court to Boldin Jr. to secure the victory.
Free throws were a key contributor to Buffalo's win as they went 22-for-28 (78.6%). The attempts, makes and percentage were all season-highs. The Aggies were 14-of-18 (77.8%).
The Bulls are back in action on Sunday as they travel to Happy Valley to play the Penn State Nittany Lions (6-0, 0-0 Big Ten). Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
Eastern Michigan 74, Houston Christian 73
Box Score
HOUSTON, Texas (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team survived a furious comeback, edging Houston Christian University, 74-73, Monday, Nov. 25, at Sharp Gymnasium as part of the Houston Christian MTE.
Eastern led by 16 with eight minutes to play before the Huskies rallied to take a two-point lead as Christian Henry (Chicago, Ill./The Skill Factory/Panola College) scored the game-winning basket with 45 seconds to go.
Four Eagles reached double figures for the second time this season, highlighted by Da'Sean Nelson's (Toledo, Ohio/Robert S. Rogers/Kilgore College/DePaul) 19 points, Jalen Terry (Flint, Mich./Beecher/Oregon/DePaul) scored 18, Jalin Billingsley (Cleveland, Ohio/Lutheran East/Georgetown) netted 13, and Henry added 12.
Helped by an 18-5 run, EMU led, 33-21, with five minutes to go in the first half prior to HCU cutting the lead back to three. The Eagles settled for a 40-31 lead after Henry netted a lay-up with three seconds left and Terry swiped the in-bounds pass and put in a lay-up at the horn.
Eastern led by as many as 16 points with 7:59 remaining before HCU launched a 22-4 run to lead by two at 69-67 with 2:15 to go.
Henry put the Eagles back ahead with a lay-up with 45 seconds to play before Terry added two free throws.
A last-ditch attempt at the buzzer by HCU sailed wide as EMU secured the win.
Eastern Michigan will return to Sharp Gymnasium Tuesday, Nov. 26, to take on Northern Arizona. The game is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. Houston Christian women's basketball is hosting Tarleton State at 7 p.m. ET.
Miami 70, Siena 58
Box Score
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Miami University men's basketball team defeated Siena Monday afternoon 70-58 in the first game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off. With today's win, head coach Travis Steele earned his 100th career victory.
Kam Craft and Peter Suder led all RedHawks (3-2) in scoring with 18 points each, while Eian Elmer added 15. Major Freeman led the Saints (3-3) with 15 points.
Suder got the RedHawk offense going at the start of play with a couple of jump shots and a layup to give Miami a 6-4 lead. A three from Craft and a layup from Suder pushed Miami to its first double-digit advantage of the day at 15-4. Only eight minutes remained in the first half after Reece Potter and Brant Byers each recorded a three.
With the score at 24-18, Elmer knocked down a triple and then proceeded to get to the free-throw line the next possession. Suder fired a bounce pass through the lane to Craft for a layup and stretched Miami's lead to 31-21. The Red and White entered halftime ahead 32-21.
Elmer opened the second half by scoring the first five points for Miami. The RedHawks held onto a 43-35 lead with just over 12 minutes left on the game clock, thanks to a pair of threes from Kraft and Suder.
The Red and White proceeded to catch fire from behind the three-point line, as Craft led the way with three triples over five minutes, increasing the scoring gap to 57-46 with 5:32 to play. In the final minute, Miami shot 7-of-8 from the free-throw line to secure a 70-58 win over the Saints.
The RedHawks outrebounded the Saints 37 to 27. Miami totaled 24 points in the paint and only gave up 16.
Byers and Elmer led both teams with two steals each. Antwone Woolfolk led all players with a career-high three blocks.
The Red and White totaled 22 points off turnovers.
Miami will return to the court on Nov. 26 at 1:30 p.m. for the championship game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off (Palms Division) against either Jacksonville or Mercer.
