Friday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 96, Iona 75
Eastern Michigan 97, Oakland 91
Northern Illinois 76, Loyola Chicago 59
Charleston 69, UMass 65
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 96, Iona 75
Box Score
ST. THOMAS, USVI - Five Zips scored in double figures as the Akron Zips defeated the Iona Gaels 96-75 at Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center Friday to begin the Paradise Jam.
The Zips (4-1) had five players score in double figures, led by Eric Mahaffey, who had 20 points and eight rebounds. Tavari Johnson added 19 points, Evan Mahaffey chipped in with 16 points and five rebounds. Shammah Scott added 14 points and five assists while Bowen Hardman fired in 10 points.
Akron shared the ball well in Friday's game, racking up 20 assists on 35 made field goals. Individually, Sharron Young and Scott led the way for the Zips with five assists.
Akron forced 17 Iona turnovers while committing 11 themselves in Friday's game. The Zips turned those takeaways into 26 points on the other end of the floor. Young led the way individually with two steals.
After falling behind 3-2, Akron went on a 10-0 run with 17:51 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Johnson, to take a 12-3 lead. The Zips then added five points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 47-33 advantage. Akron capitalized on 11 Iona turnovers in the period, turning them into 15 points on the other end of the floor.
Following intermission, Akron kept widening that lead, expanding it to 64-43 before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by Marvin Musiime-Kamali's layup, to grow the lead to 71-43 with 12:37 to go in the contest. The Gaels narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Zips still cruised the rest of the way for the 96-75 win. Akron made the most of six offensive rebounds to tack on 10 second chance points out of 49 total in the period.
The Zips will battle either Oregon State or Evansville on Sunday, November 23 at 8 p.m. ET.
Eastern Michigan 97, Oakland 91
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – A dominant near triple-double from Mohammad Habhab and a 22-point performance from Carlos Hart helped the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team beat Oakland University Golden Grizzlies, 97-91, Friday, Nov. 21, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center in a game that featured 13 ties and 15 lead changes.
The redshirt freshman Habhab (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn/Central Michigan) produced a stellar showing with a 24-point, 11-rebound, nine-assist, one-block, one-steal, and zero-turnover performance. This was his fourth double-double of the season and a career high in both points and assists.
Carlos Hart (Miami, Fla./North Miami/Valdosta State) added seven rebounds and five assists alongside his season-high 22-point performance while Mehki Ellison (Flint, Mich./Carman Ainsworth/Stetson) posted a season-high 13 points, and dished out four assists.
Mak Manciel (Detroit, Mich./Stevenson/Henry Ford CC/Arkansas State/Detroit Mercy) led the team with three makes from behind the arc, tied for the most for an Eagle this season.
Merritt Alderink (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland West/Indiana State) added five points, a season-high five rebounds, and a career-high two steals.
Hart got Eastern started with a pair of threes and a layup assisted by Habhab, resulting in an 8-8 tie at the 15:29 mark.
The game remained close, with scoring most notably coming from Habhab and the leading scorer thus far in the season, Addison Patterson (Mississauga, Ontario/Bella Vista/Northwestern State), each contributing five points to help keep the game tied 20-20 with 10 minutes to go in the first half.
Eight points from junior Aidan Rubio (Flint, Mich./Goodrich/UNC-Asheville) and six points from Manciel, which consisted of a pair of makes from behind the arc for both players, helped the Eagles take a 42-39 lead at the 2:36 mark. Eastern held onto that lead through the rest of the half, leading 46-41 at the halfway point in the contest.
The Eagles shot 66.7% from the floor in the first half, including knocking down eight three-pointers on 57.1% from behind the arc.
By the 15:02 mark in the second half, the game remained closely contested, highlighted by a 3-for-3 start from Hart to begin the half, leaving the score at 56-56.
The Eagles broke away on a 9-2 run starting at the 10:56 mark, highlighted by four turnovers forced, a third three-point make of the game for Manciel, and another four points from Habhab to establish a 75-67 lead.
By the five-minute mark, Ellison added nine points on 3-of-4 shooting in the second half to help Eastern hold onto a 79-74 lead.
The Green and White stayed firmly in the driver's seat for the remainder of the game, winning the game, 97-91.
Eastern travels to face the No. 6-ranked University of Louisville Cardinals Monday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. inside the KFC YUM! Center.
Northern Illinois 76, Loyola Chicago 59
Box Score
CHICAGO, Ill. – Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) scored 24 points with six triples while Makahi Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) added 17 points and nine rebounds as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team cruised past Loyola Chicago, 76-59, on Friday night (Nov. 21) at Gentile Arena.
Jao Ituka (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) added 10 points while Taj Walters (Bronx, N.Y./Moravian Prep) had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the victory. Ducommun finished with six assists and no turnovers while Gianni Cobb (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) had five assists and just one turnover.
NIU (3-3) made 14 three-pointers, one off the school record, while shooting 41.2 percent (14-of-34) from beyond the arc.
Loyola (1-5) led 13-8 before Hassan 'Tre' Washington (Providence, R.I./Prise Academy) knocked in a triple and Ducommun added two from beyond the long line to put the Huskies in front, 17-13.
Ducommun added another trifecta, opening the contest 5-of-5 from beyond the arc, as the Huskies led 20-16 with 11:13 to play in the opening half. Following Ducommun's fifth triple, Ituka added the next four as the Huskie lead grew to eight.
A triple from Ituka and a pair of free throws from Valentine gave NIU a 29-18 advantage with 8:32 to play in the half and, after Loyola answered with a three, Walters knocked in a triple try as the Huskies opened the contest 8-of-10 from deep.
The Ramblers responded with a 7-0 burst to cut the Huskie lead to just four, 34-30, with a little over five minutes to play before the break.
NIU took a 42-37 lead into the half. Ducommun had 15 first half points as NIU shot 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from three.
Miles Rubin and Justin Moore each had eight points to lead Loyola in the opening half as the Ramblers shot 45.5 percent (15-of-33) from the field and 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from three.
Loyola scored the first four out of the intermission to trim the NIU lead to one, but Washington finished at the rim and Valentine knocked in a triple to push the lead back to a half-dozen, 47-41, with 17:32 left.
After a Ducommun bucket and a Gustav Winther (Roskilde, Denmark) three, the Huskie lead had grown to 52-43 with a little under 16 minutes to play.
NIU then scored nine of the next 11 as the Huskie lead grew to 61-45 on Ducommun's sixth triple of the night with 12:18 to go.
The Huskie lead was still 16 before a pair of free throws from Valentine and a bucket from Daemar Kelly (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) pushed the NIU advantage to 70-50 with a little over seven minutes to play.
Loyola trimmed the NIU lead back to 13 with just under three minutes left before Ducommun ended the Rambler run with a basket and Walters made a pair of free throws, ending any hopes of a late Rambler comeback.
Rubin finished with 16 points for Loyola, Deywilk Tavarez chipped in 15 points for the Ramblers.
NIU will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 25, as the Huskies travel to Clarksville, Tenn., to take on Austin Peay.
