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To call it bloody Saturday would be a stretch, but going 2-5 wasn’t what MAC hoops needed. There were some good efforts that ended up short, so from that perspective, it wasn’t a total loss. However, this day mirrored the MAC pre-conference season. It’s been a disappointment. At least it has been if you are hoping for 2 or more MAC schools in the big dance.
IUPUI Jaguars 73- Ball State Cardinals 62
Ball State went cold. It happens in basketball games. After being up by 11 early in the second half, Ball State stopped being able to score. With 14:37 left, they had 52 points. They could only muster 10 more points the rest of the game.
3 for 10 from the charity stripe best sums up the offensive performance.
Scoring wasn’t a problems for Darell Combs and Matt O’Leary for the Jags. They scored 21 and 20, respectively.
4 BSU starters scored 12 or more, lead by Francis Kiapway with 14. Trey Moses had a double double, with 13 points and 10 boards, including 5 on the offensive end. The BSU bench went 3 for 16 from the field, scoring 7 total.
Fort Wayne Mastodons 87- Miami Redhawks 71
This was a beat down. Fort Wayne jumped out to an early lead, and kept it the entire game. They led by 16 at the half, and Miami never got the lead below single digits the rest of the way.
Bryson Scott had a career game with 24 for the Mastodons and Mo Evans added 23 and 10 assists. Logan McLane and Marcus Weathers each scored 13 for Miami. Player of the year candidate Michael Weathers added 12 and 5 assists.
Ohio Bobcats 79- Bryant Bulldogs 53
The good guys finally got one, and you can read the full recap here.
St. Bonaventure Bonnies 90- Buffalo Bulls 84
The Bulls love their jumpers. They hit them, but unfortunately so did the Bonnies.
St. Bonaventure built a halftime lead 48-35. However the Bulls showed great heart.
They were able to pull within 2 with 25 seconds left, but the Bonnies hit their free throws and the Bulls didn’t hit their bombs, and that was that.
Jaylen Adams scored 29 for the Bonnies, and Nick Perkins scored a career high 24 for the Bulls.
Central Michigan Chippewas 82- Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions 59
It was tied after the first half, but then CMU pulled away with a 10-0 run to open the second half.
Marcus Keene scored over 30 for the 4th consecutive game, and CMU is rapidly rising as the MAC West favorite.
Green Bay Phoenix 78- Toledo Rockets 77
A great game, where neither team took control. Toledo led most of the game, but it was rarely more than a possession or two.
At the end, Green Bay was able to force the tie and send it into overtime, the 4th overtime game of the year for Toledo.
After Toledo tied it up, Khalil Small hit one out of two with 5 seconds left to pull out the win.
Steve Taylor Jr. had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists for the Rockets. Charles Cooper had 18 for the Phoenix and Kerem Kanter added 17 off the bench.
Creighton Bluejays 82- Akron Zips 70
This game would have been huge for the MAC, and more specifically for Akron. They way this season has been going, this could have been an insurance policy for the Zips. Win here, and a 23ish win season could have gotten them into the big dance, even without a MAC championship.
It didn’t happen. Even though the Bluejays had the lead the entire game, the Zips kept it relatively close for most of the game. At the 12:21 mark, however, Creighton was on a 10-0 run, and put the game away. The Zips kept battling, and even though they were down 60-41, they kept battling, pulling within 9 with 2:28 left.
Kwan Cheatham Jr. led the Zips with 17 and Marcus Foster had 27 for Creighton.
It wasn’t the worst day ever in MAC basketball history, but it certainly could have been much better. In the biggest MAC sports news of the day, Navy lost, all but assuring WMU of a Cotton Bowl bid. All in all, I am going to bed feeling alright. Really wanted that Creighton win, though.