Monday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Bowling Green 71, Bucknell 66
Buffalo 78, VMI 70
UMass 73, Oregon State 65
Toledo 75, Troy 68
Yale 97, Akron 94
No. 6 Louisville 87, Eastern Michigan 46
George Mason 92, Ohio 69
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Bowling Green 71, Bucknell 66
Box Score
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team kicked off the Fort Myers Tip-Off with a victory over Bucknell, topping the Bison 71-66 Monday afternoon (Nov. 24). The Falcons utilized a 19-1 stretch in the first half to build their advantage, maintaining the lead through the end of the game. Javon Ruffin led the way, scoring 15 points, all from behind the arc with five triples. Sam Towns added 15 of his own, including a perfect 8-for-8 at the line. Javontae Campbell added 14 points while swiping another six steals as well. BGSU advances to 4-2 on the season with another game on-deck in Fort Myers, taking on VMI at 11 a.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 26).
The Falcons started the scoring with a three from Sam Towns off a Javon Ruffin assist. Bucknell added two, but another three, this time from Ruffin, made it 6-2. The back-and-forth continued with a layup for Bucknell followed by a Justin Thomas three, giving the Falcons a 9-4 lead to force a Bison timeout.
After the stoppage, Mayar Wol joined the three-point barrage, hitting one in transition, but Bucknell responded with triples of their own for a 9-0 run, moving in front 13-12 in the contest.
Troy Glover II stopped the run with a hook shot off a Ruffin feed, but a Bucknell three followed for a 16-14 score at the under-12 media timeout.
Coming out of the break, the Falcons went back to work. A three from Thomas pushed BGSU in front with Ruffin adding one of his own for a 6-0 BGSU burst and 20-16 advantage at the under-8 break.
Ruffin kept the three-point shooting going after the timeout, hitting two more for a 12-0 BGSU stretch and 26-16 lead, including nine straight from Ruffin alone. Bucknell ended the run with one at the line.
The Falcons kept the pressure on with Ruffin finding Javontae Campbell underneath the basket for two, making it a 28-17 score at the final media timeout of the first half.
With just under three minutes to go in the first half, Glover made two at the line for BGSU before a Campbell three from the corner for a 33-17 advantage. Bucknell ended their drought from the field with two, coming with just under two minutes left in the half. Campbell answered on the BGSU end with a layup for a 35-19 score. Bucknell added two at the line and then a three to close the half with BGSU ahead 35-24.
The Bison started the second half scoring with a three and later a free throw, creating a 9-0 run across the half for Bucknell, cutting the lead down to 35-28. Towns began the second half scoring for the Falcons with a hook shot in the paint, bringing the score to 37-28 at the first media timeout of the half.
A 5-0 burst for Bucknell cut the BGSU lead down to 37-33, but a layup from Wol followed by two free throws from Josiah Shackelford pushed the score to 41-33 Falcons. The back-and-forth resumed from there with a three from Bucknell before a layup from Shackelford. Campbell later added a free throw to move the score to 44-36 at the under-12 media timeout.
After the timeout, Campbell added another at the line, but the Bison kept chipping away, this time with a layup. Wol answered, but a free throw from Bucknell made it a 47-39 score. For the Falcons, Shackelford found Glover in the paint for two, pushing the score to 49-39 at the under-8 media timeout.
Soon after the timeout, Thomas made two at the line, but an and-one for Bucknell answered. Campbell kept the point-trading going with a driving layup for a 53-42 score. Three at the line and then a three-ball built a 6-0 run for Bucknell, trimming the deficit down to 53-48. Campbell hit a three for BGSU, but Bucknell worked for a layup and then called a timeout with the score at 56-50.
Bucknell added a layup before the under-4 media timeout with the score at 56-52. They made a free throw after the timeout as well. Towns drew a foul for the Falcons and sank both at the free throw line, pushing the lead back to 58-53. On the defensive end, Glover recorded a key block for the Falcons before a three from Ruffin extended the Bowling Green lead to 61-53 with a Bucknell timeout.
Bucknell made two at the line with BGSU calling timeout with the score at 61-55. Wol later added one at the line for the Falcons, but the Bison converted two at the line for a 62-57 score.
With 43 seconds left, Towns made two at the line for BGSU. Bucknell responded with a layup at the other end, keeping the difference at five, 64-59. A similar sequence followed with Towns making two more at the line followed by an and-one for Bucknell, bringing the score to 66-62.
Thomas made one at the line for BGSU, but a layup for Bucknell followed to bring the score to a one-possession game, 67-64. Towns made two at the line, answered by a Bucknell layup. Towns worked down court for a slam dunk before a Campbell steal, his sixth of the game, sealed the 71-66 final.
The Falcons will continue play in the Fort Myers Tip Off on Wednesday (Nov. 26), scheduled for an 11 a.m. tip against VMI.
Buffalo 78, VMI 70
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (6-0, 0-0 MAC) came out victorious over the VMI Keydets (3-5, 0-0 SoCon) at Suncoast Credit Union Arena on Monday evening to open the Skecher Fort Myers Tip-Off, 78-70. This is just the second time in their Division I era that Buffalo has started the season 6-0, the first came in 2018-19.
One of the best teams in the country at getting to the free throw line, the Bulls who average 33.4 free throws per game, went to the line 37 times against the Keydets. Buffalo went 28-for-37, as VMI was just 14-for-20.
In every game this season, they have had three Bulls score in double-figures. Daniel Freitag led the team with 17 points as he was 14-for-15 from the free throw line. Noah Batchelor added 15 points. The senior forward was 3-of-5 from deep. He also secured five rebounds. Ryan Sabol splashed in four three-pointers as he scored 13 points.
Ezra McKenna had a standout performance as he scored eight points to go with his game-high 10 rebounds.
Both teams struggled to find their rhythm on offense. The Bulls were 9-for-24 from the field in the first half. The .375 field goal percentage was a first half low on the season. VMI was held to .355 from the floor, but managed to hold a 33-31 half time lead. The Keydets made five first half threes as the Bulls only knocked in three.
Buffalo came out of the half blazing hot as they shot 12-for-22 from the floor, good for 54.5%. The Bulls took a 36-35 lead with 16:20 to go as Sabol nailed a three. The lead didn't last as the Keydets regained the lead and kept it for nearly five minutes. After a made McKenna layup with 8:28 left, the Bulls never trailed to close the game. They pushed the lead to as many as 15 points. In the final 2:23, the Bulls went 9-for-10 from the free throw line to put the game on ice.
The Bulls are back in action on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. as they'll play the Bucknell Bison (2-5, 0-0 Patriot League) to wrap up the Palms Division at the Skechers Fort Myers Tip-Off.
UMass 73, Oregon State 65
Box Score
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Massachusetts basketball (4-3) claimed a 75-65 win against Oregon State (3-4) on the final day of the 2025 Paradise Jam at the University of the Virgin Islands.
The Minutemen were led by Daniel Hankins-Sanford who recorded his second double-double of the season. The senior scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Marcus Banks Jr. recorded 14 points in the matchup, marking his fifth straight double-digit game.
Massachusetts dominated the paint, holding a significant advantage in offensive rebounds (17–7), second-chance points (20–2) and points in the paint (42–22).
The Beavers were led by Malco Christie who scoring 17 points, going four-for-nine from the field with three rebounds and three assists.
A 3-pointer from Marcus Banks Jr. opened a 7-0 Minuteman run to open the game.
The Beavers answered with a 7-3 run of their own to bring Oregon State within three..
A pair of triples from Malcolm Christie sparked an 8-0 Beaver run to give Oregon State a 15-14 lead with 9:30 left in the half.
Massachusetts quickly retook the lead outscoring the Beavers 12-2 over five minutes.
A pair of baskets from the beyond arc by Dez White started a 9-2 run to bring Oregon State with two, 28-26, with 3:01 on the clock.
The teams matched points for the remaining three minutes with Danny Carbuccia giving the Minutemen a 34-31 lead at the half.
A high-post jumper from Hankins-Sanford out of the locker room extended the Massachusetts lead, 36-31.
Olavi Suutela hit a 3-point to cap a 5-0 Beaver run, tying the game at 36-36.
Oregon State followed with a 10-2 run over two minutes to take a 48-42 advantage.
The Minutemen answered with an 11-2 run of their own highlighted by Isaiah Placide's three-pointer for the lead with 11:29 left in the game.
Christie sunk two free throws to give Oregon State a slim 65-63 advantage with 3:35 remaining in regulation.
Six points from Daniel Hankins-Sanford keyed a 9-0 Massachusetts scoring run to close out the game with a 73-65 victory.
The Minutemen return home to host regional foe Harvard on Wednesday, Dec. 3 with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. in the Mullins Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
Toledo 75, Troy 68
Box Score
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Junior Sonny Wilson tied his career high with 23 points and Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk won his 300th game as the Rockets' head coach in Toledo's 75-68 victory over Troy (4-4) on Monday morning in Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla. UT (4-2) will now face Belmont (6-0) on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 1:30 p.m. in the championship of the Royal Palms Division of the Coconut Hoops tournament.
Wilson scored 16 points in the second half and knocked down 10-of-13 shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, to help the Rockets rally from a nine-point deficit and register their fourth-straight victory.
Senior Kyler Vanderjagt and freshman Leroy Blyden Jr. also scored in double digits with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Senior Sean Craig nearly registered his second straight double-double as well, finishing with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore Jaylan Ouwinga also made a big bench contribution with eight points, four rebounds and four blocked shots in 22 minutes.
After trailing 36-30 at halftime, Toledo came out strong in the second half, shooting 53.6% from the field. The Rockets used a 15-0 run midway through the half to take a 55-45 advantage with 11:09 remaining. UT's lead grew to as many as 13 points before the Trojans rallied to within 65-63 with 2:06 left. Vanderjagt answered with a three-point play and the Rockets hit four free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
Troy was led by Theo Seng's 18 points and Thomas Dowd's 10 points and 11 rebounds. UT limited the Trojans to 40.0% shooting & 17.9% (5-of-28) from behind the three-point arc.
