Saturday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Ball State 58, Northern Illinois 53
Kent State 76, Eastern Michigan 75 (2OT)
Toledo 73, Bowling Green 72
Western Michigan 77, Central Michigan 65
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Ball State 58, Northern Illinois 53
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team put on a defensive showcase, and Davion Hill closed the game out on offense in a 58-53 win against Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Worthen Arena.
Hill had a hand in the final 11 points the Cardinals scored including a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to clinch the home triumph. The guard also made a pair of baskets in the paint and assisted on a 3-pointer by Armoni Zeigler and a dunk from Kayden Fish in the last few minutes, as the slam by Fish put Ball State ahead 56-48 at the 1:06 mark of the second half.
Ball State (7-13, 3-5 Mid-American Conference) got its third win in a row with the decision on a day the 1985-86 men's basketball team that won the MAC Tournament was recognized.
Hill (18 points, eight rebounds, three assists) and Zeigler (18 points, three rebounds) paced the Cardinals in scoring, while Elmore James IV (seven points, two rebounds), Fish (six points, two rebounds) and Devon Barnes (five points, three rebounds, two assists) posted a pair of field goals each. Zeigler tied a career high in 3-pointers, going 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Ball State built a lead as large as 10 points in the first half at 18-8 following a free throw from Barnes and went into halftime up 29-22. The Cardinals limited the Huskies (5-13, 2-6 MAC) to 30.4 percent shooting from the field in the opening period, when NIU went 0-for-10 from distance.
Northern Illinois won the rebounding battle 34-29 in the program's final game at Worthen Arena in the MAC before going to the Horizon League next season, but Ball State tallied four more points in the paint (32-28). The Cardinals committed three fewer turnovers (11-8) on the afternoon and outscored the Huskies in points off turnovers 16-13 and bench points 26-15.
The hosts went 44.7 percent (21-47) from the field, 27.8 percent (5-18) on 3-pointers and 61.1 percent (11-18) at the foul line. Northern Illinois hit 34.6 percent (18-52) of its field goal attempts including 14.3 percent (4-28) from distance and went 76.5 percent (13-17) on free throws.
Ball State is next set to return to the road in a game at Toledo on Saturday.
Kent State 76, Eastern Michigan 75 (2OT)
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Kent State Men's Basketball (15-5, 6-2 MAC) made it three straight wins over Eastern Michigan University on Saturday afternoon winning a thriller with the Eagles by a final score of 76-75 in two overtimes. Four Flashes tallied double-digits headlined by Rob Whaley Jr. matching his career high of 27 points in his second straight game.
The lids were on the rim on both ends of the floor early as neither team surpassed double-digits until over nine minutes had passed in the ballgame. The Golden Flashes outscored the Eagles over the next eight minutes albeit only by two (14-12). Kent State began to heat up from long range as Quinn Woidke dropped a trio from behind the arch. He led the Blue and Gold at the break with nine while Jahari Williamson tallied seven. The Flashes led 31-23 at the half. Neither team pulled away throughout the back 20 minutes. Cousins Delrecco Gillespie and Rob Whaley Jr. found their rhythm emerging as two of Kent State's leading scorers in the second half. Tied at 56 with 1:32 left to play. The Eagles took a one basket lead before Morgan Safford drew a foul to tie the game with free throws at 58. The game entered overtime as neither squad took the lead in the closing 10 seconds. The Flashes gained an advantage but ultimately could not pull away from EMU as Mohammed HabHab hit a three to tie things back up. The second overtime period began tied at 69. Kent State would not stop fighting as Whaley Jr., Gillespie, and Woidke scored every point keeping a narrow lead over EMU. The final score ended up 76-75 following an Eastern miss with the ball rolling out of bounce. After a review KSU was ruled to have possession.
Saturday marked Kent State's third straight win over Eastern Michigan. The two squads will meet again inside the MACC on Feb. 11. Whaley Jr. led the Golden Flashes in scoring for the second time this season and in a row matching his career high of 27 points. He's now up to four games with 20 points or more. Gillespie continues to stack up double-doubles now with 17 in 20 games (13 points, 12 rebounds). He has led the nation in double-doubles all season, and rebounds most of the season. Williamson scored 15 points tallying a trio of threes. He is up to nine double-digit games as a Golden Flash. With similar highlights in the stat line, Woidke also tallied his ninth double-digit performance of the year with a trio of threes scoring 13 points.
The Flashes will be back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 27 hosting the Bobcats of Ohio University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in the M.A.C. Center.
Toledo 73, Bowling Green 72
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – Freshman Leroy Blyden Jr. hit a game-winning three-pointer with 7.7 seconds left to lift the Toledo men's basketball team to a 73-72 victory over arch-rival Bowling Green before a season-high 6,850 fans in Savage Arena in the Battle of I-75 sponsored by Fremont Federal Credit Union.
Blyden's triple capped off a furious rally by the Rockets (11-9, 5-3 MAC), who trailed the Falcons (13-7, 4-4 MAC), 71-64, with 4:36 remaining. Senior Kyler Vanderjagt hit a three with 3:26 left to cut BG's lead to four. Senior Sean Craig then buried another three-pointer at the 1:27 mark to set the stage for Blyden's heroics.
Blyden topped Toledo offensively with 19 points in addition to adding five assists and four rebounds. Junior Austin Parks contributed 14 points, six boards, and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Craig scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Vanderjagt tallied 10 points and a team-high three steals.
The contest featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes, with Toledo holding a slim 39-38 halftime lead. The Rockets extended that margin to six points with 11:17 to play before the Falcons rallied down the stretch.
Bowling Green's Javontae Campbell scored a game-high 29 points and dished out a game-best eight assists.
Toledo will travel to Akron, Ohio to battle the second-place Zips (15-4, 6-1 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 p.m. The Rockets will then return home to host Ball State (6-13, 2-5 MAC) in the ninth-annual 'Rockets for Life' game on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 12:00 p.m.
Western Michigan 77, Central Michigan 65
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Fueled by a Jayden Brewer double-double and a raucous crowd of 4,776, the Western Michigan men's basketball team took down rival Central Michigan, 77-65, on Saturday evening at University Arena. Saturday's attendance was the first in excess of 4,000 at University Arena since the March 3, 2017, battle with the Chippewas brought in a crowd of 4,194.
Brewer paced Western Michigan (8-12, 2-6 MAC) in both points (20) and rebounds (11) to collect his fifth double-double of the season. The senior was joined in double-figures by EJ Ryans (15) and Justice Williams (14). Max Burton nearly recorded a double-double of his own, notching nine points and nine rebounds.
Central Michigan (5-15, 1-7) got out to a 17-9 advantage in the early stages of the contest. The Broncos answered with 10 of the next 13 to close the gap to 20-19. At 27-25, Western Michigan rattled off a 10-2 run to go ahead, 35-29, and took a 35-31 edge into halftime.
The visitors tied it up at 35-35 in the opening moments of the second half, but a 10-1 run helped WMU claim a 45-36 advantage with just over 13 minutes remaining. CMU worked its way as close as 47-43, but a 7-1 spurt put the Brown and Gold ahead by double-digits for the first time, 54-44 at the 8:40 mark. A few minutes later, Williams drilled a three-pointer to make it 59-47, and Western Michigan kept the Chippewas at arm's length for the remainder of the evening.
The Broncos connected on 24-of-54 (44.4 percent) of their field goals for the evening while limiting Central Michigan to 21-of-58 (36.2 percent) from the floor and 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) from three-point range.
Western Michigan hits the road for its next three contests, starting Tuesday evening in DeKalb, Ill., against NIU. Tip between the Broncos and Huskies is slated for 8 pm on ESPN+.
