Tuesday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Bowling Green 76, Chicago State 55
Miami 83, Wright State 76
Northern Illinois 112, East-West 64
Ohio 89, Ohio Wesleyan 56
No. 9 Michigan State 92, Toledo 69
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Bowling Green 76, Chicago State 55
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team tallied their eighth win of the season Tuesday night (Dec. 16) in the Stroh Center with a 76-55 victory over Chicago State. The Falcons' defense led the way, holding the Cougars to just 29.3-percent from the field while blocking 10 shots, the most blocks for BGSU in a game in over a decade. The defense was complimented by double-doubles from Sam Towns and Troy Glover II, both utilizing points and rebounds for the feat, while Javon Ruffin came an assist shy of a double-double of his own. The Falcons now advance to 8-3 with conference play beginning this weekend at Ohio on Saturday (Dec. 20).
The Falcons came out strong with six straight points from Troy Glover II, including two dunks, for a 6-0 lead and a Chicago State timeout less than two minutes into the game.
The Cougars hit two free throws after the timeout for their first points, but a Javon Ruffin layup matched. Chicago State hit a three followed by two Justin Thomas free throws. Sam Towns kept it going with a jumper before Chicago State matched. Mayar Wol joined in the scoring with a three, sparking a BGSU run. Towns made a layup before adding a free throw for a 6-0 burst and 18-7 lead.
Chicago State ended the run with a second-chance bucket, but the Falcons went back to work with a Makhi Leach layup. The back-and-forth continued with two at the line for the Cougars and then a three, cutting the score to 20-14 at the under-12 media timeout.
Glover got the scoring going out of the break before two Javontae Campbell free throws. Chicago State later made one at the line followed by a jumper and a three for a 6-0 run, cutting the score to 24-20. Thomas ended the run for the Orange and Brown with an and-one, but Chicago State made two at the line to answer. A jumper for the Cougars and two more free throws cut the deficit to one, 27-26.
A three from Ruffin kept the Falcons in front before a Chicago State jumper, but the Falcons answered with a run. Ruffin started with a layup followed by a Towns triple for a 35-28 score at the final media timeout of the first half. A three from Josiah Shackelford kept the run going with two Ruffin free throws closing out the half with a 10-0 BGSU run and 40-28 lead at the halftime whistle.
Towns started the second half scoring with a fast break layup off a lob from Ruffin, making it a 12-0 run and 42-28 lead for BGSU. A timeout for BGSU soon after brought on a media timeout for the first called with the same score. Before the next stoppage Chicago State made a free throw followed by a Towns layup with a foul for a 44-29 score at the under-16 break.
The first points out of the timeout came at the line for Chicago State, but a Shackelford layup matched. A dunk from Towns and two free throws from Campbell stretched the lead to 50-31. Chicago State made a basket to end the BGSU spurt, but a Wol jumper started a back-and-forth with a Thomas layup for the Falcons making it a 54-39 score at the under-12 media timeout.
A layup for Leach off an inbound restarted the scoring for Bowling Green, but a Chicago State jumper answered before two Cougar free throws. Another Leach layup kept the scoring going for BGSU, but Chicago State answered with a layup. Camden Karel sank two at the line for BGSU, but a 7-0 Chicago State run followed to cut the lead down to 60-52. A three from Ruffin ended the run with a Thomas free throw coming later.
Chicago State sank one at the line, but Glover sparked a 6-0 BGSU run with points from Campbell and Towns following to rebuild the lead to 70-53 at the final media timeout. The Cougars made a layup, but three-pointers from Towns and Ruffin closed out the game for a 76-55 victory.
The Falcons will begin conference competition this weekend with their first Mid-American Conference matchup of the season. Bowling Green will head on the road to take on the Ohio Bobcats Saturday (Dec. 20) with a 4 p.m. tip.
Miami 83, Wright State 76
Box Score
DAYTON, Ohio – The Miami University men's basketball team (11-0) took down Wright State (5-7, 1-1 Horizon) for an 83-76 win at the Ervin J. Nutter Center on Tuesday night. Brant Byers led all players with a career-high 27 points, while Evan Ipsaro (12), Peter Suder (10) and Almar Atlason (10) added double figures in scoring. Michael Cooper led the Raiders with 21 points. With this victory, Miami has secured its best start to a season in program history.
Miami held an early 4-3 lead when Byers sank two triples on back-to-back possessions to put the score at 10-6. Atlason added a three of his own and a pair of free throws to remain ahead 17-12 with 13:37 on the game clock. The Raiders attempted to close in on Miami's advantage at 19-18, but a Luke Skaljac triple and Ipsaro driving layup gave the RedHawks breathing room at 25-20.
Byers scored a traditional three-point play after getting fouled in the paint, and a pair of threes from Skaljac and Byers pushed the RedHawks to a double-digit lead at 34-24. A combination of free throws and a shot from beyond the arc from Eian Elmer kept Miami in control at 39-27 with just over three minutes to go before the intermission. Ipsaro flew down the lane for a layup plus the foul, and Byers added his fourth three of the first half to send Miami into the break with a 46-34 lead.
Suder opened the second half by finding Antwone Woolfolk for a layup, adding a jumper and a layup of his own as well. Ipsaro and Byers went on to score layups, and Byers knocked down yet another three to increase the scoring gap to 62-45. Ipsaro and Woolfolk continued to attack the paint, each scoring at the basket to hold on to a 66-48 lead.
With 7:37 remaining, the Raiders cut their deficit to just seven points at 68-61. The Red and White answered with a 6-0 run, fueled by a dunk and free throw from Atlason. Suder made his way down in the paint for a shot off the glass, and Ipsaro found Elmer in the left corner to regain control of the game at 80-68 with 1:45 to play. The Red and White went on to seal an 83-76 win.
Miami wraps up its four-game road trip by beginning conference play at Ball State on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 2 p.m.
Northern Illinois 112, East-West 64
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. – Eight players scored in double figures, led by 18 points from Jao Ituka (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg), as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team topped East-West University, 112-64, in the final non-conference game of the calendar year on Tuesday night (Dec. 16) at the NIU Convocation Center.
Gustav Winther (Roskilde, Denmark) had 16 points, Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) scored 14 points, Ladji Kante (Marseille, France) added 12 points, Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) chipped in 11 points while Gianni Cobb (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor), Daemar Kelly (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) and Taj Walters (Bronx, N.Y./Moravian Prep) each had 10 points.
Cobb finished with a double-double with 10 assists to go along with his 10 points. Kelly, Kante and Winther each tied for the game-high with eight rebounds. NIU outrebounded East-West, 71-22, in the contest.
A 12-0 run gave NIU an 18-7 lead with 14:42 to play in the opening half. Winther opened the run with a layup, Kelly then added a triple before Ducommun finished at the rim. Ituka knocked in a three to make it a 10-0 Huskie burst and Cobb finished ahead of the play to close the run and give NIU an 11-point lead.
East-West scored the next four to trim the NIU advantage back to seven with a little under 14 minutes left in the half
With NIU in front 31-18, Winther scored six-straight to push the Huskie lead to 19 with 7:34 remaining in the opening stanza. The six-point burst from Winther ignited an 18-0 run from the Huskies as NIU led 49-18 with just over three minutes to play before the break.
NIU (4-7) took a 59-25 lead into the intermission. Winther had 16 points to lead all scorers at the half, David Hood had nine points to pace the Phantoms.
Walters scored all 10 of his points in the second half to led NIU after the break while Ituka scored nine points after halftime.
Devine Conley finished with 19 points for East-West, Hood added 14 points and Amari Phillips chipped in 12.
NIU will now turn its attention to conference play, which begins at home this Saturday, Dec. 20, against Central Michigan. Tip-off against the Chippewas is scheduled for 2 p.m. and tickets are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.
Ohio 89, Ohio Wesleyan 56
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio men's basketball team (5-6) returned to the Convocation Center Tuesday night (Dec. 16) for a matchup with Ohio Wesleyan (3-6). Four Bobcats recorded double figures to earn Ohio an 89-56 win.
As a team, the Bobcats shot 58.1% from the field while making 36 shots and four threes. On defense, Ohio tallied 11 steals and a season-high nine blocks. On the glass, the Bobcats tied their season high with 44 total rebounds, including a season-best 36 defensive rebounds.
The Bobcats were led in scoring by senior forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.), who recorded 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Redshirt freshman forward Kiir Kuany (Melbourne, Australia) recorded a career-high 17 points, with fellow freshman guard JJ Kelly (Chambersburg, Pa.) tying his career-high with 14 points. Redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) was the final of four Bobcats who recorded a double-digit scoring game with 12 points and five rebounds.
Hadaway got the Bobcats started with a layup assisted by Simmons, which would start a 7-0 run to start the game. Hadaway would contribute four of the team's first seven points to earn a 7-0 lead three minutes into the contest.
Ohio continued to build its lead in the first half by turning good defense into good offense. Through eight minutes, the Bobcats had already tallied 12 rebounds and three steals to take a 20-7 first-half lead.
The Bobcats continued to have success against Ohio Wesleyan, going on an 8-0 run that was highlighted by a turnaround jumper from sophomore guard Elijah Elliott (Orlando, Fla.) to extend the Ohio lead to 28-12 with just over eight minutes to play in the half.
One of Ohio's best plays of the night came towards the end of the first half when Hadaway got a steal on the defensive end, which led to a breakaway dunk by sophomore forward Ayden Evans (Radcliff, Ky.) on the other end.
Going into the half, the Bobcats were led by Hadaway with 12 points to contribute to a 43-31 lead.
Ohio came out hot in the second half with a block by Kelly on the team's first defensive possession, leading to a Hadaway layup on the team's first offensive possession. Another quick basket by senior guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) led to an early Ohio Wesleyan timeout and a 47-31 Ohio lead.
Ohio Wesleyan would not log its first points of the half until the Bobcats had completed a 7-0 run highlighted by a three-point jumper by Kelly to make it 50-31. Quickly after, Hadaway would make a three to give Ohio a 20-point lead, its largest of the game to that point.
The Bobcats would take an even bigger lead on another highlight play when Hadaway lobbed the ball to Kelly for a commanding dunk to take a 58-36 lead. That dunk would be part of an 11-0 run that gave Ohio a 64-36 lead.
In the game's final minutes, Ohio would continue to build its lead while Ohio Wesleyan had no answer. At the game's final buzzer, Ohio secured an 89-56 victory.
Ohio will be back at The Convocation Center this Saturday, Dec. 20, for its first Mid-American Conference matchup against Bowling Green. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+. The game is the second game of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader, with the Ohio women's team set to take on St. Louis at 1 p.m. ET inside the Convo.
