Saturday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 85, Central Michigan 82
Ball State 89, Northern Illinois 83 (OT)
Bowling Green 63, Buffalo 59
Eastern Michigan 80, Toledo 73
Western Michigan 78, Miami 70
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 85, Central Michigan 82
Box Score
Recap coming soon…
Ball State 89, Northern Illinois 83 (OT)
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team won its second straight game in overtime and third overall when the Cardinals beat Northern Illinois 89-83 on Saturday afternoon at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals improved their record to 13-12 (6-6 Mid-American Conference) with the decision over the Huskies (5-20, 1-11 MAC). Juanse Gorosito posted a season-best 24 points while making 5 of 8 3-pointers to help the hosts win their third in a row.
Ball State closed the first half on a 9-0 scoring run thanks to triples from Gorosito, Jeremiah Hernandez and Ethan Brittain-Watts to take a 38-20 lead into the break. The Cardinals led until the last seconds of regulation when Northern's Quentin Jones hit two free throws to tie the score at 76-76 and send the game into an extra period.
Mickey Pearson Jr., scored five points in overtime and Jermahri Hill four to push Ball State over the top. Pearson Jr., went for 15 points and five rebounds overall, while Hill tallied 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Gorosito added a career-high seven rebounds along with two steals and an assist. Hernandez finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Brittain-Watts went for 13 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Cardinals.
Ball State outrebounded NIU 40-36 and committed three fewer turnovers (12-9). The hosts shot 42.6 percent (23-54) from the field including 39.1 percent (9-23) from distance and 68 percent (34-50) on free throws. Both the makes and attempts were the most this season for the team that gets to the free throw line more than any other in the conference.
Jones put up 21 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies, but they were limited to 41.3 percent (26-63) shooting and 36.1 percent (13-36) on 3-pointers to be hit with the loss.
Ball State is set to travel to play at Toledo at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in its first road game in two weeks.
Bowling Green 63, Buffalo 59
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team picked up a road win over the Buffalo Bulls on Saturday (Feb. 15), claiming a 63-59 final in the game. The win evens the all-time series between Bowling Green and Buffalo through 50 games and gives BGSU three straight wins over Buffalo, including two this season. For Bowling Green, the win pushes the Falcons to 4-8 within MAC play while being 10-15 overall on the season.
For Bowling Green, Javontae Campbell topped the stat sheet with 20 points, his fourth 20-point game of the season. Trey Thomas followed with 10 points for the Orange and Brown. Wilguens Jr. Exacte led the team in rebounding with nine, matching his career-high, while DaJion Humphrey swiped five steals. In total, eight different Falcons logged at least one field goal, accounting for everyone who played at least five minutes in the game.
Jamai Felt won the opening tip for the Falcons in the game. Buffalo scored the first points of the game with a layup, but it was after a Felt swat on their first shot attempt of the game.
The first Bowling Green points came from a Felt layup, Trey Thomas recording the assist with the inside look. Campbell then drew a foul, making one at the line for a 3-2 BGSU lead.
Buffalo pushed ahead with a layup on their end, but a triple from Marcus Johnson swung the score back to Bowling Green. The back-and-forth continued with a Buffalo three. Campbell got an and-one layup to fall, giving BGSU an 8-7 advantage going into the first media timeout. He made the free throw after the stoppage for a 9-7 score.
Thomas saw a mid-range jumper fall. A three answered from Buffalo to pull back within one, but an and-one for Derrick Butler matched the points. A layup for the Bulls made it a 14-12 tally at the under-12 media break.
Coming out of the break, the Falcons swiped a steal, turning into a Butler slam on the offensive end. Buffalo soon responded with a three, pulling within one. A three from Thomas matched the points with another, this time from DaJion Humphrey, making it a 22-15 BGSU lead and a 6-0 run at the under-8 timeout.
After the media break, Buffalo made two at the line to end the BGSU run. Butler answered the points with a floater, breaking up another two at the line for Buffalo. A goaltending call counted a Braelon Green basket for a 26-18 lead at the final media timeout of the first half.
Out of the timeout, Buffalo added three more at the line. A three ball followed to pull the Bulls within a possession. The Bulls converted another three at the line, pushing ahead 27-26 with a 9-0 run.
Wilguens Jr. Exacte ended the run with two at the line, swinging the score back to Bowling Green, 28-27, at the halftime whistle.
Humphrey started the second half with a three for the Orange and Brown. Buffalo made a shot in the paint, but a Johnson fade answered the points the next time down.
The back-and-forth resumed with two at the line for Buffalo followed by a Campbell layup. UB and Thomas traded free throws before a pair of Buffalo baskets. Thomas ended the run with a layup for a 38-35 lead at the under-16 break.
After the break, Buffalo converted a free throw. Campbell worked through the traffic for a layup, pushing the Falcon lead back to multiple possessions with a 40-36 score at the under-12 timeout.
A three for the Bulls after the timeout closed the gap to one, 40-39, but Campbell worked to the rim for back-to-back layups, making it a 44-39 lead with a UB timeout.
The Falcons kept the pressure on after the timeout. Humphrey swiped a steal that turned into Campbell drawing a shooting foul, converting both for a 6-0 run on his own and a 46-39 lead.
Buffalo ended the Campbell run with a layup, but free throws from Humphrey matched the points before another Buffalo layup. Campbell made another layup, drawing a foul in the process, for a 50-43 lead at the under-8 break.
The first points out of the break came from a Buffalo layup. Exacte responded for BGSU with a pair at the line. A pair of Buffalo threes were interrupted by a Campbell layup, making it a 54-51 score with just over four minutes to play.
Exacte made his way through the paint for a layup, drawing contact that resulted in an and-one and Buffalo's Tyson Dunn fouling out. Exacte hit the free throw for a 57-51 score at the final media timeout of regulation.
Buffalo got a layup to fall for the first points after the break, but Thomas answered with a runner before another UB layup, seeing Buffalo call a timeout with the score at 59-55 and 1:42 left on the clock.
A layup for the Bulls out of the break pulled them within two, 59-57. Campbell answered the score with a layup followed by a BGSU timeout with the score at 61-57 and 28 seconds left on the clock.
Buffalo made a layup with the Falcons calling timeout with 13.1 seconds left, up 61-59. Johnson hit both free throws for a 63-59 score with 7.6 seconds remaining. The score held for the final and Bowling Green victory.
Bowling Green will be back home at the Stroh Center on Tuesday (Feb. 18) to host the Kent State Golden Flashes in a 7 p.m. tip. The game will be Star Wars Night at the Stroh.
Eastern Michigan 80, Toledo 73
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Jalen Terry netted a career-high 38 points to lead the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team in a win over the University of Toledo, 80-73, Saturday, Feb. 15, at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
Terry (Flint, Mich./Beecher/Oregon/DePaul) converted his first 12 field goal attempts, ending 15-of-17 to go along with six three pointers and a team-high eight rebounds in a game where Eastern led for more than 37 minutes.
Da'Sean Nelson (Toledo, Ohio/Robert S. Rogers/Kilgore College/DePaul) registered 21 points, eclipsing 1,000 points as a Division I player.
The Rockets netted the game's first two points before a jumper from Arne Osojnik (Ljubljana, Slovenia/Dream City Christian) gave Eastern a 6-4 lead, which it would not relinquish.
The Eagles continued their hot shooting throughout the first half, building a lead as large as 32-19 before settling for a 43-33 lead at halftime. EMU shot a robust 17-of-26 (65.4%) in the opening half.
The Rockets battled out of the gates in the second half cutting the Eastern lead to five points on three occasions in the first six minutes of the frame, but a Terry triple pushed EMU's lead back out to 65-55 with 10:09 left in the game.
UT put together a 7-0 run, though, cutting the Eagles' lead to 69-66 with six minutes to go before a 7-2 spurt extended the advantage to 76-68 with 2:23 remaining.
Toledo hit a triple despite being fouled on the shot with 19 seconds remaining to come within three but missed the ensuing free throws prior to Jalin Billingsley (Cleveland, Ohio Lutheran East Georgetown) hauling in the rebound and sinking the ensuing free throws to ice the game.
Eastern Michigan hosts Miami University Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 6:30 p.m. Click here to purchase tickets.
Western Michigan 78, Miami 70
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team grabbed a big Mid-American Conference victory at University Arena on Saturday as it handed Miami its second conference loss of the season, 78-70.
Western Michigan (8-17, 5-7 MAC) was dominant on the glass, more than doubling the visitors' total, 54-26. The 54 rebounds were a new season high for the Broncos, who secured 22 offensive boards, their second straight game with 20 or more offensive rebounds.
Donovan Williams spearheaded the attack on the glass, totaling a career-high 15 rebounds. Owen Lobsinger secured 10 boards for the Brown and Gold, his fourth double-digit rebounding game of the campaign.
For the fifth game in a row, Chansey Willis Jr. paced WMU in scoring, as he tallied 22 points. The junior also handed out seven assists and grabbed four steals. Williams had 15 points to go with his 15 rebounds to secure the second double-double of his career. JaVaughn Hannah added 13 points and Markhi Strickland netted 10.
Miami (19-6, 10-2) tallied seven of the game's first nine points, but Western Michigan quickly came back with nine in a row to go in front, 11-7. The RedHawks scored eight of the next 11 to briefly gain a 15-14 edge, only for WMU to respond again with six straight points to take a 20-15 lead just past the halfway point of the opening stanza.
At 26-22, Miami put together a 10-2 stretch to wrestle the lead away, 32-28. Lobsinger hit the final bucket of the half for the Broncos to trim the deficit to 32-30 heading into halftime.
With the visitors holding a 41-40 edge, Western Michigan ripped off a 10-2 run, which was capped off by a Hannah three-pointer, to go back in front, 50-43. The RedHawks whittled the margin back down to three, 50-47, before a 14-1 surge boosted WMU's advantage to 64-48 with 5:29 to play. Miami clawed its way back to within six in the final minute, but could not get any closer, as Willis sealed the game at the free throw line.
The Broncos connected on 28-of-68 (41.2 percent) from the field for the contest, while Miami went 26-of-60 (43.3 percent) from the floor.
Western Michigan hits the road on Tuesday night as it visits Buffalo. Tip is set for 7 pm on ESPN+.
