Wednesday’s Men’s Basketball Results
UMass 76, Boston College 74
Miami 90, UNC Asheville 87 (OT)
Purdue Fort Wayne 80, Eastern Michigan 65
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
UMass 76, Boston College 74
Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Meeting for the first time since Nov. 16, 2014, Massachusetts basketball (7-3) picked up its fourth consecutive win over Boston College (5-6) in a thrilling 76-74 triumph on Wednesday night at the Hall of Fame Classic at the MassMutual Center (5,853). Marcus Banks Jr., had a game-high 29 points, including the decisive free throws with five seconds left, to secure MVP honors.
Banks Jr., was 10-for-17 from the field and connected on a season-best six from beyond the arc. He added seven rebounds and a steal on the night.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford added 17 points and Leonardo Bettiol put up 12 points. Jayden Ndjigue came down with a season-high 11 rebounds, with Bettiol pulling down eight boards. Danny Carbuccia and K'Jei Parker recorded four assists apiece.
For the Eagles, Donald Hand Jr., led the way with 18 points, followed by Chase Forte and Boden Kapke with 12 points each. Fred Payne contributed 11 points.
Danny Carbuccia, Leonardo Bettiol, Marcus Banks Jr, Daniel Hankins-Sanford, and Jayden Ndjigue entered into the game as starters
Fred Payne opened the scoring for both teams with a three-pointer less than two minutes into the first half
Bank Jr., secured the first five points for the Minutemen, highlighted by an opening triple, before Hankins-Sanford's layup gave Massachusetts a 7-5 lead
Back-to-back buckets from Hankins-Sanford, including a fast break dunk, pushed Massachusetts ahead, 13-10
A flagrant foul against the Eagles led to a four-point swing when Bettiol hit a pair of free throws and Banks Jr., added a jumper at 7:40 to extend the lead to 23-16
Chase Forte's five points pulled the Eagles within two with 5:07 left in the half
Hankins-Sanford answered with a basket from the arc to open an 8-3 run over three minutes to give the Minutemen a 33-26 advantage
Boston College went on a 7-2 run to close the half, making it a 35-33 UMass lead at the break
Out of the locker room, Aidan Shaw's dunk tied the game at 35-35
Five points for Hankins-Sanford put UMass back on top, 40-37, in the opening three minutes of the second half
Bettiol completed a three-point play with an and-one at the 14:13 mark to give UMass a 51-40 lead
Massachusetts took a 12-point lead with 13:44 on the clock as Banks Jr., pulled up a three-pointer, marking his fourth of the night
Boston College went on a 13-4 run to pull within three points from a 14-point deficit with 9:39 remaining in the second
Boden Kapke of the Eagles converted a three-point play to knot the game up at 56 apiece
Banks Jr., ended UMass' scoring drought over a six-minute span with his fifth three-pointer of the night, matching a season-high, to make it a 63-59 game
Banks Jr., made one-of-two free throws off a technical foul, before Bettiol hit his free throw on his and-one to bring UMass back within four at 65-61.
K'Jei Parker went end-to-end pulling up a jumper in the paint as the Minutemen closed the gap to one point at 66-65
The Eagles pulled ahead, 68-65, at the 3:27 mark, but a Class A Technical foul helped Parker to the charity stripe, making one of two
Banks Jr., recorded a season-best six three-pointers after knocking one down from behind the arc to regain a 69-68 lead with 3:12 on the clock
Parker and Hankins-Sanford followed with a jumper and layup to push ahead 73-70
A driving layup by Boston College tied the game up once again at 74-74 with only 57 seconds remaining
After BC missed two free throws, Banks Jr., was sent to the charity stripe with five seconds left
Banks Jr., knocked down both free throws at the line to take a 76-74 lead, forcing the Eagles to use a 30-second timeout with 2.3 seconds on the clock
A missed three for the Eagles at the buzzer aided Massachusetts to hang on to a 76-74 victory
The Minutemen travel to Sunrise, Florida, to face Florida State in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at the Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday, December 13.
The game will be broadcast on ACCN with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
Miami 90, UNC Asheville 87 (OT)
Box Score
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Miami University men's basketball team (9-0) outlasted UNC Asheville (4-6) in a 90-87 overtime win at Kimmel Arena on Wednesday night. Evan Ipsaro totaled a new career-high 27 points, while four other RedHawks added double figures in scoring. Toyaz Solomon (31) and Justin Wright (26) led the Bulldogs in points.
The Bulldogs opened the contest with a 6-2 lead before a triple and a driving layup from Almar Atlason helped the RedHawks take their first lead of the evening at 9-8. UNC Asheville responded by reclaiming the advantage and moving ahead 15-9, but Eian Elmer and Brant Byers each knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to even the score at 15 apiece. Miami did not slow down offensively, as they rolled to a 9-0 run behind deep shots from Ipsaro and Eian Elmer to jump out to a 24-17 lead with 8:45 to go in the first half.
Trey Perry added to the flurry of shots from behind the three-point line, knocking down a pair of triples to give Miami its first double-digit lead of the day at 30-20. Brant Byers put in a physical left-hand layup during a transition sequence and followed that with a driving layup down the right baseline to extend to a 34-23 lead. Peter Suder put in a wide-open three and Luke Skaljac scored a step-back near the free throw line to put the score at 39-27 with 4:33 remaining before the intermission. Atlason scored a layup for the final points of the half to send the RedHawks into the break ahead 41-35.
The Bulldogs had no answer for Ipsaro coming out of halftime, as he knocked down two jump shots and a three to keep a 50-42 lead. The Bulldogs closed within four points at 50-46, but layups from Ipsaro and Byers, as well as free throws from Skaljac, gave Miami some breathing room at 56-46 with 14:02 remaining. Perry entered the game for the first time in the second half and went to work right away, getting fouled from beyond the arc and putting in a driving layup to increase the scoring gap to 61-46. Yet another three from Ipsaro, a Suder tip shot and a Suder layup gave Miami its largest lead of the day at 70-52.
With a 72-56 lead with 7:19 to go, Suder and Ipsaro combined for the next 10 points to try and hold off the Bulldogs in the final stretch of play at 82-71. UNC Asheville battled its way back, using a collection of free throws in the final three minutes of the second half to reclaim its first lead since the start of the game at 84-83. With just 10 seconds on the game clock, Suder managed to get to the free-throw line himself, putting in a single shot to force overtime at 84-84.
The Bulldogs looked to run away from the RedHawks at the start of extra play before Ipsaro blazed past his defender for a layup and rattled in a jumper to give Miami a one-point lead at 88-87 with 1:13 of action left. After stopping the Bulldogs' attempt to regain the advantage, Byers and Ipsaro each sank a free throw to help the RedHawks secure a 90-87 overtime victory.
Miami continues its four-game road trip at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 3 p.m.
