Thursday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Massachusetts 94, Le Moyne 80
Northern Illinois 117, Benedictine 62
South Alabama 66, Central Michigan 64
Recap courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Massachusetts 94, Le Moyne 80
Box Score
AMHERST -- Massachusetts basketball (2-1) had four players score in double figures, claiming a 94-80 victory over Le Moyne (1-3) on Thursday night at the Mullins Center.
The Minutemen were led by Marcus Banks Jr., who recorded a game-high 26 points with five 3-pointers, three assists and a steal. Leonardo Bettiol notched his first double-double as a Minuteman with 17 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 7-for-11 from the field.
K'Jei Parker had a career-high 19 points, going 6-for-7 from the field. The junior shot a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe adding four rebounds, five assists and two steals.. Freshman, Danny Carbuccia also had a career night going 5-for-7 from the field with 13 points and five assists.
The Dolphins were led by Jakai Sanders who tallied 17 points, five assists and
The Dolphins opened the scoring by Sanders with a jumper under the basket less than 30 seconds into the game.
Banks Jr. answered with a pair of baskets generating an 11-3 run over nearly three minutes for an 11-5 lead.
Out of a timeout, Shilo Jackson's jumper under the basket put the Dolphins within four.
The teams traded baskets with the Dolphins cutting their deficit, 18-15 with 11:10 left in the half.
A three-point play by Bettiol extended the Minutemen lead.
The Dolphins engineered an 8-2 run to tie the game, 26-26 with 7:17 on the clock.
Parker drilled a three pointer to open a 9-1 run over three minutes for a 35-27 scoreboard.
Both teams exchanged baskets for the remaining minutes of the half with a three pointer by Isaiah Placide at the buzzer, giving the Minutemen a 48-38 lead.
Massachusetts started the second half with an 11-0 run over four minutes capped by a three-point play from Bettiol.
Samuel Hincapie cut into the deficit for a 60-40 score with 15:22 left in the game.
After exchanging baskets, the Minutemen pulled away for a 21-point lead.
Over less than a minute, the Dolphins garnered a 6-0 run for a 72-54 score with 9:44 on the clock.
Following a pair of baskets by Deng Garang, matched baskets, with Dolphins bringing their deficit to 14 (4:17 on clock)
Going back and forth, free throws ended the scoring for both teams with the Minutemen taking a 94-80 victory.
The Minutemen close out their homestand and take on Central Connecticut State at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16 at the Mullins Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
Northern Illinois 117, Benedictine 62
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. – Daemar Kelly (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) led the way with a career-high 18 points as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team downed Benedictine, 117-62, on Thursday night (Nov. 13) at NIU Convocation Center. Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) added a career-best 17 points while Taj Walters (Bronx, N.Y./Moravian Prep) and Hassan 'Tre' Washington (Providence, R.I./Prise Academy) each added a career-high 13 points.
The 117 points by the Huskies is tied for the sixth-most in school history. NIU also scored 117 last year in a 117-50 win over East-West University (Dec. 30, 2024).
NIU (2-2) raced out of the gates to a 17-4 lead in the opening six minutes of the contest. Valentine scored the first six to open the game. Benedictine sandwiched a pair of baskets around a bucket from Kelly before a triple from Gianni Cobb (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor), two free throws from Walters and baskets by Kelly and Washington put the Huskies in front by 13 early.
The Huskies led 33-16 with 7:11 to play in the half before an eight-point burst put NIU in front by 25. Jaylen Wharton (Plant City, Fla./Durant) scored to open the run, Kelly then knocked in a triple, Valentine added a free throw and Ladji Kante (Marseille, France) scored to give the Huskies a 41-16 lead.
Valentine had a game-high seven assists to go along with his 17 points.
After a basket by the Eagles, NIU used a 12-0 run to take a 53-18. Washington opened the run with a bucket, Gustav Winther (Roskilde, Denmark) had a basket during the run, Valentine scored four points and Washington knocked in a corner triple as the Huskie lead grew to 53-18 with a little under two minutes to play in the opening half.
Kelly had 14 to lead all scorers at the intermission as the Huskies held a 60-20 lead. Valentine had 11 points and Washington had 10 as the Huskies shot 54.1 percent (20-of-37) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from three.
Benedictine was held to just 20.6 percent (7-of-34) shooting in the opening half, including 11.1 percent (2-of-18) from three.
After halftime, the Huskie offense continued to fire on all cylinders as NIU shot 65.4 percent (17-of-26) from the field in the second 20 minutes, including 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from three to finish the game shooting 58.7 percent (37-of-63) and 50 percent (14-of-28) from long range.
Along with the five players in double figures, Cobb, Kante and Isaiah Washington (Fayetteville, N.C./Winston-Salem Christian) each scored nine points, Cobb added a team-high five assists.
Aidan Werth scored 13 points to lead the way for Benedictine, who shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field in the second half.
NIU will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 18, when the Huskies travel to Northern Iowa. Tipoff against the Panthers is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
