Saturday’s Men’s Basketball Results
UMass 103, Florida State 95
Miami 79, Eastern Kentucky 69
Ohio 88, St. Bonaventure 83
Murray State 115, Akron 100
Stony Brook 78, Central Michigan 55
Elon 85, Northern Illinois 79
Robert Morris 75, Toledo 70
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
UMass 103, Florida State 95
Box Score
SUNRISE, Fla. -- A second half rally lifted the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team to a 103-95 victory over Florida State in game one of the AutoNation Orange Bowl Classic on Saturday afternoon at the Amerant Bank Arena.
Senior Daniel Hankins-Sanford recorded his third double-double of the season to lead the Minutemen. Hankins-Sanford tied his career-high with 24 points, after going 10-for-16 from the field, and he pulled down a team-leading 10 rebounds. Hankins-Sanford was named the game's MVP as well.
Florida native K'Jei Parker made a major contribution off the bench with a career-high 24 points. Parker went 7-for-11 from the field, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. Leonardo Bettiol (20) and Marcus Banks Jr. (18) added double figures to the UMass total, while Danny Carbuccia dished out eight assists.
As a team, UMass made a season-high 38 field goals, including a season-best 12 three-pointers. It also pushed the Minutemen's winning streak to five games, the longest since winning six in a row during the 2022-23 season (Nov. 17-Dec. 5).
Florida State was led by Robert McCray V with 21 points and 11 assists. Martin Somerville put up 15 points, followed by Kobe Magee and AJ Swinton with 12 apiece. Magee also joined McCray V with a double-double, grabbing 10 boards on the afternoon.
Danny Carbuccia, Leonardo Bettiol, Marcus Banks Jr., Daniel Hankins-Sanford and Jayden Ndjigue started for the Minutemen.
UMass broke the press and Hankins-Sanford found Banks Jr. for a corner three and an early 3-0 lead. A step back three for Banks Jr., gave UMass an 8-0 lead two minutes into the contest.
With the shot clock winding down, Banks Jr. knocked down his third three in the first three minutes for an 11-5 lead. K'Jei Parker checked in four minutes into the half and made an immediate impact with a three and a layup for an 18-12 UMass lead.
Dimitri Clerc made a layup and then hit the free throw to complete and an one for a 23-17 lead with 11:55 left in the first half. Parker then hit back-to-back threes to extended the UMass lead to 30-19.
FSU cut the lead to 34-28 before a Hankins-Sanford layup made it 36-28 with just over five minutes left in half. A three-point play by Florida State's Robert McCray made it a one-point game, 36-35.
Trailing for the first time at 38-36, Hankins-Sanford made a pair of free-throws to tie it at 38-38 with three minutes remaining in the half. A Parker three restored the UMass lead, 43-42, with a minute left in the half but FSU scored the next five points for a 47-43 lead at the break.
The teams traded baskets to start the second half and then Ndjigue hit a pair of free throws to cut the FSU lead to 53-51 but then he picked up his third foul of the game at the other end at the 16:16 mark.
Bettiol tied the game at 57-57 with a nice finish in the paint and then completed an and-one play on the next possession to give the Minutemen a 60-57 lead. Carbuccia had back-to-back driving layups, hitting a free throw after the second one to complete the three-point play, moving UMass in front 69-64 with 11:17 left in the second.
A Donovan Brown three gave UMass a 76-67 lead with 9:30 left in the half, his first field goal of the game. A Hankins-Sanford dunk followed by a Banks Jr., three pushed the lead to eight and forced a Florida State timeout.
FSU picked up a dead ball technical and Parker hit both free throws to move the lead to 87-76. Retaining possession, Hankins-Sanford knocked down a three to make it 90-76 lead.
Parker followed with a three-pointer of his own to put UMass on a 10-0 run at the 4:14. Parker made it a 101-89 lead with a pair of free throws at the 1:20 mark. Florida State made back-to-back triples with seconds left to make it a 101-95 game.
The Seminoles fouled Banks Jr., with 12 seconds on the clock, as he made the pair to ice the win.
The Minutemen open MACtion on Saturday, Dec. 20, against Kent State at the Mullins Center at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
Miami 79, Eastern Kentucky 69
Box Score
RICHMOND, Ky. – The Miami University men's basketball team (10-0) held off Eastern Kentucky (3-8) for a 79-69 win at Baptist Health Arena on Saturday afternoon. Almar Atlason led all players with 19 points, while Brant Byers and Antwone Woolfolk followed closely behind with 15 points each. Juan Cranford Jr. led the Colonels with 18 points.
A triple and transition dunk from Byers helped the RedHawks jump out to an early 8-2 lead against the Colonels. Eastern Kentucky responded by evening the score at eight apiece before Peter Suder used a layup and a turnaround jumper to put the score at 12-8. A pair of layups from Evan Ipsaro and Woolfolk, as well as a fastbreak three from Byers, kept the RedHawks ahead 19-13 with under nine minutes to go in the first half.
The Colonels found a way to shrink Miami's advantage to 23-20 with five minutes before the intermission. A turnaround jump shot from Atlason and a second-chance jumper from Suder gave the RedHawks some breathing room at 27-20. Woolfolk ended the first half by scoring Miami's final eight points to head into halftime with a 35-25 lead.
Eian Elmer got the RedHawks going in the opening of the second half with a transition dunk and a shot from behind the arc to stretch their lead to 42-27. A flurry of threes from Atlason, Trey Perry and Elmer gave Miami its first 20-point lead of the day at 54-32 with 13:17 on the game clock. Woolfolk found Byers running down the court for a dunk after catching the Colonels' defense sleeping, and Byers added his third three-pointer on the next possession to make it a 62-41 ball game.
Atlason put in multiple jumpers, and Ipsaro found Skaljac for three to hold on to a 71-60 lead with just under four minutes left. Ipsaro flew down the lane for a layup, and Atlson buried two deep shots in the final two minutes to help Miami walk out of Baptist Health Arena with a 79-69 win.
Miami continues its four-game road trip at Wright State on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m.
Ohio 88, St. Bonaventure 83
Box Score
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (4-6) returned to action for the Cleveland Hoops Showdown on Saturday night (Dec. 13), where the Bobcats defeated St. Bonaventure (10-2), 88-83, in thrilling overtime fashion inside Rocket Arena.
Overall, Ohio shot 56 percent from the field, 39 percent from three and 85 percent from the line, while St. Bonaventure shot 44 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and were 17-of-19 from the line. St. Bonaventure outrebounded Ohio, 33-27, while Ohio dished out 11 assists to the Bonnies' 12.
Ohio was led by senior guard Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) with 25 points, while going 9-of-15 from the field, 2-of-4 from three and 4-of-4 from the line. Redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) scored 17 points and grabbed four rebounds, while senior forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) had 14 points and seven boards. Freshman guard JJ Kelly (Chambersburg, Pa.) added 14 points four rebounds and two assists.
St. Bonaventure got on the board first with a jumper to take and early 2-0 lead, before a three from senior guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) and a jumper from Paveletzke put the Bobcats up 5-2 going into the first media. Out of the break the Bonnies took a two-point lead before a three from Hadaway stopped the Bonaventure run. Moments later, a three from redshirt freshman forward Kiir Kuany (Melbourne, Australia) and a layup from sophomore guard Elijah Elliott (Orlando, Fla.) gave Ohio a 13-11 lead with 11:49 left.
After the Bonnies tied the game at 13-13 on free throws, threes from Hadaway and Paveletzke and a layup from Kelly gave the Bobcats a 24-19 lead at the under-eight media timeout. Out of the break, the two teams traded baskets with jumpers from redshirt senior forward Jalen Breath (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Kelly, however, the Bonnies countered with their own, cutting the Ohio lead to 28-26 at the final break. Out of the break, back-to-back layups from Simmons and a jumper from Kelly helped give the Bobcats a 34-32 lead going into the half.
At the half, Ohio shot 57.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. Ohio also registered 10 rebounds to the Bonnies 11, while Ohio had seven assists.
St. Bonaventure opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a five-point lead, forcing Ohio to burn a timeout. Out of the break, back-to-back layups from Simmons stopped the run. The two-teams continued to trade points as Ohio chipped away before a tip-in layup form Kelly tied the game at 44-44. After a dunk from Hadaway and another layup from Kelly, the Bobcats went on to take a three-point lead entering the media timeout.
Out of the break, a dunk from Simmons, put Ohio up seven, before St. Bonaventure cut the lead to four. However, the Bobcats responded with a three from Sheldon and a layup from Hadaway to give the Bobcats a 58-51 lead with 7:47 left in the game. Out of the break, a 6-0 run from the Bonnies cut the Ohio lead to one. Moments later, a three from Paveletzke stopped the run, putting Ohio back up four, before a turnaround jumper from Paveletzke increased the lead back to 63-57, forcing the Bonnies to call a timeout with 5:32 remaining. After another jumper from Paveletzke out of the break put Ohio up 65-58, four-straight points from the Bonnies cut the Ohio lead to four going into the final media timeout.
After the Bonnies tied the game at 65-65, a three from Paveletzke put Ohio back up three. After St. Bonaventure countered with a layup, a jumper from Paveletzke out Ohio up 70-67 with 31.0 second to go. After the Bonnies hit two free throws to cut the deficit to one, they would tie the game with another free throw, before missing the second one, sending the game to overtime tied at 70-70.
Overtime opened with free throws from Paveletzke before the two teams kept trading baskets, with the game tied at 77-77 with 2:33 remaining in the overtime period. After the Bonnies took a two-point lead, a 5-0 run with free throws and a jumper from Simmons and put the Bobcats up five with 18 seconds to go. Down the stretch, one last jumper from Paveletzke helped seal the 88-83 overtime victory for the Bobcats.
Up next, the Bobcats return to Athens for the start of a three-game homestand on Tuesday, Dec. 16 when Ohio takes on Ohio Wesleyan. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+.
