Monday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 85, James Madison 71
Ball State 75, Louisiana 64
Bowling Green 83, Texas State 48
Buffalo 85, Southern Miss 79
Central Michigan 82, App State 66
Eastern Michigan 71, Georgia State 49
Miami 87, Old Dominion 72
Northern Illinois 102, Louisiana Monroe 82
Western Michigan 76, Coastal Carolina 71
Troy 103, Kent State 97
Marshall 78, UMass 72
Arkansas State 89, Ohio 85
South Alabama 76, Toledo 74
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 85, James Madison 71
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - Amani Lyles dropped a career-high 22 points, with 16 coming in the second half, as the Akron men's basketball team rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat James Madison 85-71 at James A. Rhodes Arena.
The Zips (1-0) had four players score in double figures, led by Lyles, who had 22 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Shammah Scott added 17 points and Tavari Johnson chipped in with 14 points and two steals.
Led by Evan Mahaffey's four offensive rebounds, Akron did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 15 boards that resulted in 19 second chance points.
The Akron defense caused its share of mistakes in Monday's game, forcing 19 James Madison turnovers while committing eight. Those takeaways turned into 28 points on the offensive end of the floor. Mahaffey's four steals led the way individually for the Zips.
Akron returns to James A. Rhodes Arena on Saturday, November 8 when Princeton comes to the Rubber City for a 12 p.m. start.
Ball State 75, Louisiana 64
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team finished strong to open the season with a 75-64 win over Louisiana on Monday night at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals led 58-56 with just under five minutes to play before going on an 11-2 run featuring an and-one by forward Cam Denson and 3-pointers by Mason Jones and Juwan Maxey. Armoni Zeigler put an exclamation point on the rally with a layup to put the hosts ahead 69-58 with 1:36 on the clock. Ball State would cruise from there to win the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge matchup.
Davion Hill led the Cardinals in scoring (16 points) and rebounding (eight) in his Ball State debut while adding four assists. Denson followed with 14 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and Zeigler tallied 13 points, five assists and three rebounds as the third Cardinal in double figures.
The Ragin' Cajuns scored the final six points of the first half to take a 29-28 lead into the break. Louisiana got a game-high 21 points from Jamyron Keller.
Ball State made 52.2 percent (24-46) of its field goal attempts including 53.3 percent (8-15) from beyond the arc while making 67.9 percent (19-28) of free throw attempts. Louisiana was limited to 42.4 percent (25-59) from the field and 32.1 percent (9-28) on 3-pointers.
The hosts won the rebounding battle 34-29 and committed one fewer turnover than the Ragin' Cajuns (12-11). Ball State held advantages in points in the paint (32-24) and bench points (29-18) thanks to the 14 from Denson, nine by Elmore James IV and six from Maxey.
The Cardinals won the home end of the MAC-SBC Challenge for the third time in as many tries after taking down Old Dominion in Nov. 2023 and Southern Miss in Feb. 2025.
Next on the schedule for Ball State is a home game against Mansfield at 7 p.m., on Friday.
Bowling Green 83, Texas State 48
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team began the 2025-26 season with an 83-48 victory over the Texas State Bobcats at home Monday night (Nov. 3). The Falcons' effort was ignited by an 18-0 run that spanned across the half, closing out the first half with a 7-0 run and starting the second 11-0. The strong second half start sparked a 43-19 half in favor of the Falcons, recording the win with the 83-48 final. For BGSU, the win begins the year 1-0 while also being 3-0 at home in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge over the last three seasons.
Mayar Wol led the BGSU effort, scoring 19 points off the bench while being perfect from the field. Javontae Campbell followed by stuffing the stat sheet with 15 points, a team-high seven rebounds, a team-high five assists and a team-high four steals. In total, the Falcons had five double-digit scorers while 14 different players saw the court.
Troy Glover II started the scoring for the season, getting a layup to fall for the Falcons. He later added two at the line for a 4-0 start to the season on his own. Texas State added a layup for a 4-2 score at the first media timeout of the game.
Javontae Campbell matched a Texas State bucket at the timeout, beginning a back-and-forth. Campbell lobbed a layup to Mayar Wol the next time down, making it an 8-8 tie.
Bowling Green began a three-point barrage with Campbell, Josiah Shackelford and Wol hitting triples on consecutive possessions, building a 17-12 lead at the under-12 media timeout.
Out of the break, a 5-0 run for Texas State tied it up at 17-17, but the Falcons answered. Makhi Leach dropped his first collegiate points with a three before another Wol layup, forcing a Bobcat timeout, trailing 22-17.
The 5-0 runs continued, this time for Texas State, tying it up at 22-22. Wol hit another three, giving BGSU the lead back. A Justin Thomas layup followed, but the Bobcats stayed in step for a 27-27 score.
From there, BGSU put together a 6-0 run with two Glover layups separated by a Campbell jumper. Texas State slammed a dunk, but two at the line from Wol answered the tallies. Campbell later added two at the line of his own.
Shackelford closed out the first half scoring, hitting a three with less than a second left in the half for a 40-29 BGSU advantage at the halftime whistle.
The first points of the second half came for BGSU with Campbell swiping a steal and scoring in transition with a layup. Shackelford followed with a jumper before a fastbreak layup from Towns off a Thomas dish made it a 6-0 run to start the half, a 13-0 run across the halftime break and a 46-29 lead to force a timeout from the Bobcats.
The run continued after the timeout with a layup from Shackelford through contact. A free throw from Wol preceded a second-chance layup from Campbell for a 51-29 lead with an 18-0 run before the first Texas State points of the half.
Glover traded points with the Bobcats, including a huge dunk, for a 55-33 score at the under-12 media timeout.
Two at the line for Texas State cut into the score, but a second-chance layup from Towns matched the points. Javon Ruffin followed with back-to-back threes, book-ending a layup for the Bobcats.
The Falcons kept it going from deep with a three from Wol before a layup from Texas State for a 66-39 score at the under-8 media break.
Wol drilled another three after the timeout, his fourth of the night, to push the BGSU lead to 69-41. Ruffin later went to the line, sinking all three attempts for a 72-41 advantage.
Campbell and Ruffin added layups after a Texas State and-one opportunity for a 76-44 score at the final media timeout.
The Falcons and Bobcats traded points in the final few minutes. Ruffin added a breakaway dunk before layups from Leach and Mohamed Maxamud. Alijah Adem closed out the scoring with a made free throw for an 83-48 final.
The Falcons will remain at home for their next two games, hosting both Bethany College and Le Moyne. BGSU and Bethany College will square off on Thursday (Nov. 6) with a 7 p.m. tip. Bowling Green will transition to facing Le Moyne on Sunday (Nov. 9) for a 2 p.m. start inside the Stroh Center.
Buffalo 85, Southern Miss 79
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 MAC) defeated the visiting Southern Miss. Golden Eagles (0-1, 0-0 SBC) to open the 2025-26 season, 85-79. The Bulls trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half before outscoring the opposition, 74-53.
Ryan Sabol scored a career-high 32 points in the victory as he tied his career-high in made threes with seven. His seven made three-pointers are tied for 10th all-time in a single game. He also did so at Bowling Green (2/6/24) and against Fredonia (11/8/24). Sabol became the first Bull since Curtis Jones to score at least 30 points since Feb. 4, 2023. Sabol has now scored 728 points in his career which moves him to 53rd all-time in program history.
Noah Batchelor recorded his third career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. From beyond the arc, he went 3-for-4. He added a pair of assists and three steals.
In Angelo Brizzi's first game donning the blue and white, he scored a career-high 18 points. He went 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Since the beginning of 2023-24 season, the Bulls improved to 10-1 when they score 80+ points.
The Bulls finished with 16 assists to eight turnovers. UB doubled up on made three-pointers in the game as they made 12 to Southern Miss.'s six.
After the opening tip, Sabol started the game with a bang as he buried a deep three to put the Bulls on the board. The Golden Eagles grabbed a 9-8 lead at the 15:34 mark and extended their lead. They secured their best scoring run on the night with a 12-0 run as they took a 26-11 lead near the halfway mark of the opening half. Little by little, Buffalo chipped away at Southern Miss.'s lead. The Bulls tied the game at 36 off a Brizzi layup with 1:20 to go. After forcing a miss, the Bulls looked to take the lead before heading to the locker room. Buffalo missed all three of their shots in a possession which led Southern Miss. to take a 38-26 lead at the half after making a second chance layup with a second to go.
The Bulls trailed for the majority of the second half, but kept it within six points. The deep shot was a big difference in the second half. The Bulls buried seven threes to the Golden Eagles one. Sabol tied the game with a corner three as Batchelor drained a go-ahead three in the ensuing possession to make it 67-64 with 7:24 remaining. Buffalo never lost the lead the rest of the night.
Central Michigan 82, App State 66
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—Tamario Adley scored a game-high 22 points and Logan McIntire hit a game-high four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points as Central Michigan built an early first half lead and never looked back in claiming an 82-66 season opening victory over Appalachian State Monday night at McGuirk Arena. The contest was being played as part of the MAC/SBC Challenge.
The victory also marked head coach Andy Bronkema's first win in his first game at CMU. The entire 15-player Chippewa team was making its season debut in Mount Pleasant.
Central Michigan converted 51.7 percent (30-58) of its field goals and outrebounded the taller Mountaineers 43-33. The Chippewas hit 8-17 3-pointers, outscored App. State 40-22 in the paint, and dished out 14 assists. Adley converted 8-12 field goals, hit 3-3 3-pointers, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists. McIntire hit 4-6 field goals and had six rebounds, Keenan Garner scored nine points, Nick Mullen added eight points, and Phat Phat Brooks finished with seven points.
Bronkema was impressed with Adley's play but it was nothing that he hadn't seen before from his senior guard.
The Chippewas built a 38-26 lead at halftime. The Chippewas used a 14-0 run to take 22-7 lead at the 9:38 mark. Adley scored on a layup in the paint, Rodney Johnson, Jr. scored on a turnaround shot in the post, and Phat Phat Brooks followed with a 3-point play on a driving layup. Brooks followed with another layup for a 17-7 lead, Garner added another 3-point play on a driving layup, and Adley made it 22-7 on a turnaround jumper in the paint.
Bronkema was proud of the way his team battled.
CMU hit five 3-pointers and Adley scored 15 points in the second half. It was McIntire who opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers and Adley followed with a layup to give the Chippewas a commanding 18-point lead (46-28) with 17:01 to play. Minutes later, CMU pushed its lead to as many as 20 points.
App State would cut the lead down to as few as 12 points (74-62) with 3:40 to play.
Kasen Jennings led App State with 21 points and drew 10 fouls, while Alonzo Dodd scored 11 points.
The Chippewas started Adley, Brooks, and McIntire at guard, Nathan Claerbaut at center, and Keenan Garner at forward.
Central Michigan won its fourth consecutive MAC/SBC Challenge game and improved to 4-1 in the event. CMU also improved to 2-0 all-time vs. Appalachian State.
Next up, Central Michigan travels to Peoria, Ill. to play at Bradley on Saturday, Nov. 8. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.
Eastern Michigan 71, Georgia State 49
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Sparked by an impressive 15-point, 16-rebound performance from Mo Habhab, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team won, 71-49 over Georgia State University Monday, Nov. 3, at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
In addition to his 15 points and 16 rebounds, Habhab's (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn/Central Michigan) standout performance included four assists and two blocks in a game that Eastern led for more than 32 minutes.
Carlos Hart (Miami, Fla./North Miami/Benedict College/South Georgia State/New Orleans/Valdosta State) added 14 points and eight rebounds and Addison Patterson (Mississauga, Ontario/Bella Vista/Oregon/Nevada/Salt Lake CC/Tallahassee State/Northwestern State) chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.
Eastern also got 12 points and five rebounds from Mak Manciel (Detroit, Mich./Stevenson/Henry Ford CC/Arkansas State/Detroit Mercy) over 14 minutes of action.
The game was part of the Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Challenge.
After Godslove Nwabude (Anambra State, Nigeria/Mt. Zion Prep (Md.)) scored the game's first basket, Georgia State responded with a three-pointer on the other end before taking its largest lead of the game at 14-11 with 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
Eastern scored the game's next 10 points as part of a 19-4 run to take a commanding 30-18 lead. The Eagles settled for a 32-23 halftime lead.
A Panthers bucket to start the second half was as close as the visitors would get the rest of the way.
The teams traded buckets over the next 13 minutes prior to a 14-0 Eastern run, which saw EMU keep GSU off the scoreboard for 6:10.
A jump hook from Merritt Alderink (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland West/Indiana State) put the cap on a 22-point victory for Eastern.
Eastern travels to play the University of Pittsburgh Monday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m.
Miami 87, Old Dominion 72
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University men's basketball team (1-0) opened the 2025-26 season at home with an 87-72 victory over Old Dominion (0-1) on Monday night in the MAC-SBC Challenge.
Brant Byers totaled a game-high 18 points, while Evan Ipsaro followed closely behind with 16 points of his own. Peter Suder made his presence felt on the defensive end with the most steals of the game (three) and also added a block. LJ Thomas led the Monarchs with 13 points.
The Monarchs started strong, taking an 18-6 lead. Suder sparked the RedHawk offense with a steal and transition layup, cutting the deficit to 18-10 with 11:27 left in the first half. Ipsaro's jump shot and Luke Skaljac's three-pointer kept the RedHawks close at 24-17.
With halftime under five minutes away, free throws and two Antwone Woolfolk layups kept Miami within 10, trailing 37-27. Woolfolk added a layup and dunk in the final minute of the first half, sending Miami into the intermission down 45-37.
The Red and White scored the opening five points of the second half to shrink Old Dominion's lead to just three points. The Monarchs held on to a 47-42 advantage when Suder, Ipsaro and Woolfolk all scored in the paint to make it a two-point game at 52-50. Skaljac found a wide-open Almar Atlason from beyond the arc to give Miami its first lead of the night at 53-52. Byers knocked down a pair of threes and drove down the lane for a traditional three-point play to keep Miami ahead 64-60 with 8:19 remaining.
Atlason's second three of the day and a driving layup through contact from Trey Perry pushed Miami to its first double-digit lead of the evening at 73-62 with just over five minutes on the game clock. Old Dominion gave up a 15-0 scoring run to the RedHawks to fall behind 79-62 with 2:54 to play. The Red and White closed out the game with numerous free throws to seal the game 87-72.
Miami continues its homestand versus Trinity College (Ill.) on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Northern Illinois 102, Louisiana Monroe 82
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. – Jao Ituka (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) scored 19 points off the bench, leading four Huskies in double figures, as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team topped ULM, 102-82, on Monday night (Nov. 3) in the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge at the NIU Convocation Center.
Gustav Winther (Roskilde, Denmark) had 18 points and 10 rebounds while Gianni Cobb (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) scored 14 points with 10 assists and zero turnovers, marking the first time two Huskies have posted double-doubles in the same game since Feb. 11, 2023, against Western Michigan.
Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) added 16 points and eight rebounds.
NIU's 102 points are its most against a Division I opponent since defeating Chicago State, 106-64, on December 23, 1996.
The Warhawks jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the opening four-and-a-half minutes of the contest.
Valentine ignited a 9-0 Huskie run with a bucket as the Huskies pulled within a pair. JJ Taylor (Chicago, Ill./San Ysidro) added a basket and Ituka scored the next five as NIU cut the ULM advantage to 15-13 with 13:40 to play before the intermission.
A triple from Ituka gave NIU its first lead of the night, 18-17, before the Warhawks answered with a pair to go back in front.
Carlos Coronado (Coolidge, Ariz./Supreme Academy) canned a corner triple to jump start a 12-0 Huskie burst. Winther added a half-dozen during the run and Ituka made his second triple of the contest as the NIU advantage grew to 30-19 with 9:14 to play in the half.
Coronado finished with eight points.
The Warhawks trimmed the NIU lead back to a half-dozen, 38-32, before a four-point play from Valentine pushed the Huskie advantage back to double figures with 3:05 left in the opening stanza.
NIU took a seven-point lead, 45-38, into halftime. Winther had a dozen points at the break on 5-of-5 from the field with six rebounds. Ituka had 11 first half points while Krystian Lewis paced ULM with 11.
The Huskie lead was five in the early stages of the second half before Daemar Kelly's (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) second triple of the half and a layup from Winther pushed the NIU lead to 58-48.
Kelly's trifecta started a 12-2 Huskie run as the NIU lead ballooned to 65-50 just six minutes into the second half as the Huskies coasted home to the victory.
NIU shot 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the field in the second half, including 50 percent (7-of-14) from three. The Huskies outrebounded ULM, 44-18, including 19-6 on the offensive end, which led to a 31-10 advantage in second chance points.
Lewis finished with 22 points to lead the Warhawks. Przemek Hartman added 16 points and Dylan Diaz chipped in 13.
NIU will return to action on Friday, Nov. 7, when the Huskies head to Madison to take on Wisconsin. Game time against the Badgers is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be available on Big Ten Network.
Western Michigan 76, Coastal Carolina 71
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team had 10 different players score, including three in double-figures, in a 76-71 season-opening win over Coastal Carolina on Monday night at University Arena.
Jalen Griffith scored all 15 of his points after the break to lead the way for the Broncos (1-0). The junior guard was joined in double-figures by Max Burton and Trey Lewis, who tallied 14 points apiece. Burton also added a career-high seven assists and six rebounds for WMU, while Jayden Brewer approached a double-double with nine points and eight boards.
Coastal Carolina (0-1) got out on the front foot early and raced out to an 11-2 lead in the opening minutes. Western Michigan countered with seven in a row as part of a 12-3 run to even the contest at 14-14 midway through the opening period. In the latter stages of the half, the Chanticleers put together a 9-3 stretch to take a seven-point edge, 34-27, with under a minute to play. WMU then ran off a quick five points before the break, with a Lewis three-pointer in the final seconds cutting the margin to 34-32 at halftime.
Western Michigan took its first lead of the night at the 16:36 mark of the second half on a three-pointer by Hudson Ward. WMU remained in front until a five-point burst put Coastal Carolina back on top, 49-48, with just over 11 minutes to play. The two teams then proceeded to trade the lead back and forth for the next several minutes, with it changing hands seven times until it was tied up at 63-63 at the three-minute mark.
Looking to break the deadlock, the Broncos fed the ball down low to Burton, who made a nice move in the post, banked in a layup and was fouled for an old-fashioned, three-point play to put Western Michigan back in front, 66-63. After a pair of free throws closed the gap to 66-65, Lewis canned another crucial triple for the Brown and Gold, making the margin 69-65 with 90 seconds to play. Western Michigan got a stop on its next defensive possession, and went 7-for-8 from the foul line in the final minute to put the game on ice.
WMU connected on 44.0 percent (22-of-50) of its field goals for the evening, and hit 80.0 percent (28-of-35) of its free throw attempts. Coastal Carolina made 41.0 percent (25-of-61) from the field.
The Broncos continue their season-opening homestand on Thursday as they welcome Northwood to University Arena for a 7 pm tip. For tickets to any WMU men's basketball home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.
