Hustle Belt: All Posts by Randy CarpenterMAC Football, MAC Basketball, MAC Recruiting, MAC Baseball and all of the other #MACtion hijinks in between - hustlebeltblog@gmail.comhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50387/hustle-fav.png2022-03-12T23:15:00-05:00https://www.hustlebelt.com/authors/randy-carpenter/rss2022-03-12T23:15:00-05:002022-03-12T23:15:00-05:00Akron drops the mic in 75-55 win over Kent State to secure MAC MBB Tournament title
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<figcaption>Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Pregame controversy looms over the final for Kent State, as bitter rival Akron does everything it needed to do and more on Friday night.</p> <p id="eVhMOt">The Akron Zips use a two-plus hour video aired on ESPN2 to make their own statement Saturday night, as they beat the Kent State Golden Flashes, 75-55 to win the 2022 Mid-American Conference Championship in Cleveland, Ohio.</p>
<p id="8O7UPt">Tonight’s game had a lot of intrigue going in, as the MAC offices had announced the <a href="https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/12/22974323/mid-american-conference-disciplines-four-members-kent-state-mens-basketball-team-social-media-post">suspension of four Kent State players</a> for a profanity-laced “diss” video aimed directly at their blood rivals which found its way around Twitter and Snapchat overnight. It was a controversial decision, which included the first-half suspension of starting guard Malique Jacobs for the first half of the title game. At the end of the day, however, the game still had to be played, and the Zips and Flashes took to the floor to secure their ticket to the Big Dance.</p>
<p id="BOw0Ok">The first half both teams looked sluggish, not a major surprise considering they were both on the third leg of back-to-back-to-back games. The MAC’s player of the year Sincere Carry had a particularly tough time in the opening stanza, with just three points and eight of the team’s 12 turnovers. </p>
<p id="H0lafE">The Zips separated from the Flashes with about five minutes left in the half, as Ali Ali, one of the named players in the Kent State diss track, was the catalyst with nine points. The Zips held a 34-25 lead at the intermission.</p>
<p id="T90YQt">Kent State got Jacobs back for the second half and it appeared to give them some life. They scored the first eight points of the half to get within a point at 34-33 with 17:34 to play. But the Zips got rolling after that, thanks to a couple of big three-pointers from Gavin Clarke. The three-pointers helped the Zips get to 43-35 with 14 minutes left to play, and from there, raced out to a 60-42 with 6:34 remaining after an old-fashioned three-point play by Enrique Freeman. It proved to be the straw which broke the camel’s back, as Kent State didn’t have the legs to mount much of a threat the rest of the way, hoisting up 13 points over the remaining time as Akron cruised to victory. </p>
<p id="5exB8p">Freeman was named Tournament MVP and finished with 23 points, eight rebounds, two assist and two steals. Freeman shot 8-of-10 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Ali and Xavier Castaneda finished with 15 points each. The Zips shot 52 percent for the game from both the field and from three-point range, compared to Kent State’s 46 percent and 41 percent, respectively.</p>
<p id="UgyHQO">The story for the Flashes was Carry’s unexpected struggles. He finished with more turnover (9) than points (6), especially struggling without Jacobs on the court. He was just 2-of-11 from the field, a stark contrast to the game he had the night before in the semifinals. Justyn Hamilton led Kent State in scoring with 19 points. The Flashes finished with 19 turnovers as team. </p>
<p id="uwGmY1">The Zips improve to 24-9 on the season and will find out tomorrow their first-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament. The Flashes fall to 23-10, and will await to find out where they will be playing next in the postseason.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/12/22974863/akron-zips-kent-state-golden-flashes-mid-american-conference-mens-basketball-final-game-recap-2022Randy Carpenter2022-03-12T14:10:00-05:002022-03-12T14:10:00-05:00Buffalo WBB secures ticket to the Big Dance with 79-75 victory over Ball State
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<figcaption>Randy Carpenter</figcaption>
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<p>Bulls guards dominate, especially in the fourth quarter, to put Buffalo in the Big Dance and give UB its third MAC tournament championship since 2016.</p> <p id="q0PgUu">The #2 Buffalo Bulls defeated the #5 Ball State Cardinals, 79-75 to claim the 2022 MAC Women’s Basketball Championship at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday afternoon. This was the third MAC Championship for the Bulls since 2016, and their fourth championship game appearance, with their last win in 2019. </p>
<p id="wdQIW3">The Bulls guard combo of Dyaisha Fair and Georgia Woolley literally carried the team in this game. Fair had 19 points in the first half alone, as the Bulls held a slim 38-37 advantage at the break. The Cardinals used three-point shooting to stay with the Bulls in that opening half. </p>
<p id="zQ6NNL">The second half was a back-and-forth affair, and the Bulls took a 53-50 lead into the fourth quarter. The Cardinals would tie the game at 53-53 on a three pointer from Thelma Dis Austdottir. But it would prove to be their last hurrah, because Fair and Woolley would take over from that point on. Woolley immediately hit a three-pointer to answer the Cardinal run, and Fair hit two free throws to put the Bulls back up again at 58-53 with 8:02 to play. The Bulls took their biggest lead of the game, 71-63 with just 3:34 to play. </p>
<p id="CHte9V">The Cardinals didn’t quit, getting back to within 75-53 with :30 to play. Woolley hit four free throws down the stretch to secure the win for the Bulls. Amazingly, the two guards scored all 26 points that Bulls scored in the fourth quarter. Fair was named Tournament Most Valuable Player and finished with 30 points, six assists, three steals and two rebounds. Woolley was also named to the MAC All-Tournament Team and ended up with 29 points and four rebounds. The combo was responsible for 59 of the Bulls’ 79 points.</p>
<p id="r7UPdB">The Cardinals were led in scoring by Dis Agustsdottir and Ally Becki with 20 points each. Freshman Becki also added nine rebounds, seven assists, two steal and a block. She was also named to the MAC All-Tournament Team. </p>
<p id="MhGO0v">The Bulls improve to 25-8 on the season and will find out who their first-round opponent will be in the NCAA Tournament on Monday. The Cardinals drop to 20-12 and will wait to see if they’ll play in the postseason.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/12/22974385/buffalo-bulls-ball-state-cardinals-mac-womens-tournament-championship-game-recap-2022Randy Carpenter2022-03-11T23:14:54-05:002022-03-11T23:14:54-05:00KSU advances to 2022 MAC MBB title game with 67-61 win over Ohio
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<figcaption>Kent State Athletics</figcaption>
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<p>The duo of Malique Jacobs and Sincere Carry led the KSU attack, propelling the Flashes to their 14th-straight win.</p> <p id="6dknXf">At tournament time, it must be nice to be able to put the ball in the hands of the Mid-American Conference’ Player of the Year. That’s exactly what Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff did, as the third-seeded Golden Flashes beat the fourth-seeded Ohio Bobcats by a score of 67-61 on Friday evening to advance to the MAC Championship Game.</p>
<p id="FrXEAA">It was an odd game in many respects. The Bobcats went the first four minutes of the game without scoring, and then had yet another seven-minute stretch of the first half that was scoreless. Despite that, however, the Bobcats were only down 31-23 at the half. Scoreless for an 11+ minute stretch of the first half and you’re only down eight points? How does that happen? </p>
<p id="YRwKjY">The entire game, it felt like Kent State was running Ohio out of the arena, yet the Bobcats always stayed within shouting distance. An Andrew Garcia three-pointer gave the Flashes their biggest lead of game, 52-37 with 8:43 to play. It appeared Kent State would finally put the Bobcats away at that point, but Ohio began to chip away at the lead again after finding their shooting stroke in the second half. A couple of three-pointers from Mark Sears and a Ben Vander Plas dunk had Ohio back to within 58-53 with under four minutes to play.</p>
<p id="VLbgc2">Another Sears three-pointer made it even closer, putting the score at 58-56 with 2:56 to play. Kent State’s Malique Jacobs hit back-to-back baskets to push the lead out again to 62-56 with 1:49 to go to give KSU some breathing room— and allow MAC player of the year Sincere Carry to have a say in deciding the game. He hit a big three pointer and two clutch free throws down the stretch to enable the Flashes to hold off the Bobcats for the win. </p>
<p id="cqBjgd">Carry finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Jacobs led the Flashes in all categories with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Jacobs was a blistering 9-13 from the field. Ohio was led in scoring by Vander Plas with 20 points and added six rebounds. Sears finished with 18 points, and Jason Carter added 10.</p>
<p id="upfgcL">Kent State improves to 23-9 on the season. Ohio drops to 24-9 and will wait to see where it will be playing in the postseason. </p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/11/22973763/kent-state-golden-flashes-ohio-bobcats-mac-mens-basketball-semifinal-game-recap-2022Randy Carpenter2022-03-11T21:53:33-05:002022-03-11T21:53:33-05:00Akron frustrates top-seeded Toledo en route to 70-62 upset semifinal victory
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<figcaption>Akron Athletics Department</figcaption>
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<p>Zips snap Rockets’ seven-game win streak at an opportune time to clinch berth in title game.</p> <p id="z3D2cp">What a dark day for Toledo fans.</p>
<p id="jptnzW">The Rockets women’s team were the number one seed and were ousted by Ball State on Friday morning in the women’s tournament, and just hours later, the top-seeded Toledo men’s team suffered the same fate. </p>
<p id="8yNJLW">It would be the #4 seed Akron Zips who ultimately handed the Toledo Rockets a 70-62 defeat in semifinal action at the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday evening.</p>
<p id="RUhKFl">Akron looked like the more aggressive team from the get-go, using some hot shooting in the first half (53 percent from field goal range) to race out to a 38-28 lead. The Rockets, on the other hand, looked sluggish and had trouble putting the ball in the basket—not a great combination. The Zips had a 15-point lead with 1:19 to play in the first half, but the Rockets scored the last five points of the first half and the first six points of the second half to pull within 38-34 with 17 minutes to play. </p>
<p id="7sWija">It appeared the Rockets were gathering momentum and were poised to take the lead early in the second half, getting the lead down to as low as two points down the stretch on several occasions, but the Zips always seemed to have an answer when necessary. A JT Shumate layup got Toledo within two points for the last time at 61-59 with 2:52 to play. Then the Zips’ Enrique Freeman, playing with four fouls since the 9:00 minute mark, got a big basket and then a key block on defense. On the ensuing possession, Mikal Dawson hit a three pointer that pushed the Akron advantage to 66-59 with 1:53 to play. The Zips took care of business in the final minute from the free throw line to get the victory and secure the second high-seed knockout of the day between the men’s and women’s tournaments.</p>
<p id="BjvAiN">Xavier Castaneda had an outstanding game for the Zips with 22 points, including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. Ali Ali added 13 points for Akron, while Freeman finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 1:39 left to play. The Rockets were led by Ryan Rollins’ 18 points, but he had to take 19 attempts to get those points. The Rockets were just 4-of-15 from three-point range for the game. Even worse, they were just 10-of-22 from the free throw line. </p>
<p id="mfb1ZX">The Zips improve to 23-9 on the season and will face either Ohio or Kent State in the championship game tomorrow night. The Rockets drop to 26-7 and will find out where they will play next on Sunday or Monday. As regular season champion, Toledo will have a spot clinched in the men’s National Invitational Tournament. </p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/11/22973702/akron-zips-toledo-rockets-mid-american-conference-mens-basketball-semifinal-game-recap-2022Randy Carpenter2022-03-11T15:20:00-05:002022-03-11T15:20:00-05:00Buffalo decimates Akron 82-43 in MAC WBB semifinal game
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<figcaption>Buffalo Athletic Department</figcaption>
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<p>Bulls guard duo too much for Zips in domineering performance.</p> <p id="4UY4g9">The #2 Buffalo Bulls looked like a team on a mission in a convincing 82-43 win over the #3 Akron Zips on Friday in Mid-American Conference semifinal action at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. </p>
<p id="sizF1e">The Bulls, now 24-8 on the year, advance to tomorrow’s MAC Championship Game against the #5 Ball State Cardinals. Friday’s result was the third time this season that the Bulls have beaten the Zips, with all contests decided by 17 points or more. So much for the old adage of it being hard to beat a team three times in a season. </p>
<p id="rvbaZu">Akron actually had the lead at 4-0 in the first minute of the game and had its last lead at 6-5 with five minutes to go in the first quarter. Then the Bulls decided to play. Buffalo got 16 first half points from Dyaisha Fair to jump out to a 32-21 lead at halftime.</p>
<p id="0Vjh4t">The second half was even worse for the Zips. The Bulls had little trouble pushing the lead to 55-37 at the end of the third quarter. The Bulls had their biggest run at 11-0 in the fourth quarter to blow the game completely open. </p>
<p id="aNONwI">The Buffalo guards dominated the game. Fair finished with a gamed high 28 points and six assists. Her freshman backcourt mate, Georgia Woolley added 20 points. Adebola Adeyeye added 13 points and eight rebounds. The Zips were led by MAC Player-of-the-Year, Jordyn Dawson with 15 points, but she never really was a factor in the game. </p>
<p id="YlUPLW">The Zips finished just 1-of-19 from the three-point line. Meanwhile, the Bulls shot 50 percent from beyond the arc hitting 7-of-14. The Bulls also owned the boards with a 44-33 rebound advantage. The Zips fall to 17-11 on the year and will await to see if they are playing in the postseason somewhere.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/11/22973171/buffalo-bulls-akron-zips-mac-womens-basketball-tournament-semifinal-game-recap-2022Randy Carpenter2022-03-11T14:58:20-05:002022-03-11T14:58:20-05:00Ball State’s Cinderella run continues with 71-66 win over #1 seed Toledo in MAC WBB semifinals
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<figcaption>Ball State Athletics</figcaption>
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<p>Ball State, who had to bridge a huge comeback just to qualify for the semifinals on Wednesday afternoon, will now play for potential NCAA berth.</p> <p id="VWHw6b">The Ball State Cardinals were down by as much as 17 points in the first half on Wednesday against Northern Illinois in a quarterfinal match-up. Tomorrow morning, they’ll play for the Mid-American Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, thanks to a stunning 71-66 semifinal win over #1 seed Toledo Rockets on Friday morning in Cleveland, Ohio. </p>
<p id="6FOop9">The Cardinals scored the first seven points of the game and held the lead for almost the entire game. The Rockets only held the lead once, for just 15 seconds, at 22-21 in the second quarter. Ball State would outscore the Rockets 18-3 the rest of the quarter to take a 39-25 lead into halftime.</p>
<p id="Mw08vt">You knew the Rockets would make a run in the second half, but the question was when. </p>
<p id="p6rT4q">Ball State opened heir biggest lead of the game in the third quarter at 48-31 with 5:08 to play. The Rockets began to make the expected run and got the lead down to 51-46 by the end of the third quarter. The Rockets went to a full court press and got the lead down to two at 63-61 with just 1:03 to play. </p>
<p id="2h8w7z">The Cardinals hit some clutch free throws in the last minute, including five from freshman Ally Becki. The Rockets couldn’t put up much of a fight after that, having spent most all their energy trying to bridge the gap Ball State established. The Cardinals didn’t leave unbruised, though, with three players each earning four fouls, and they lost a valuable bench player due to an injury in the second quarter.</p>
<p id="pU5GRp">Sydney Freeman led the Cardinals in scoring with 19 points, while Becki and Marie Kiefer both added 12. Sophia Wiard had 16 points to lead the Rockets,and Quinesha Lockett added 14. Ball State shot 47 percent from the field for the game and were 16-21 from the free throw line.</p>
<p id="gzT6zh">Ball State improves to 20-11 on the year and advances to the MAC Championship game tomorrow versus the winner of the Buffalo/Akron semifinal later Friday afternoon. Toledo drops to 26-5 on the year and will wait to learn where they’ll be playing postseason basketball. As regular-season champion, they will likely qualify for the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/11/22972951/ball-state-cardinals-toledo-rockets-mac-womens-basketball-semifinal-game-recap-2022Randy Carpenter2022-03-10T21:25:00-05:002022-03-10T21:25:00-05:00#3 Ohio pulls away late from #6 Ball State in 77-67 win; advances to MAC men’s basketball semifinals
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<figcaption>Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>All-MAC selections Vander Plas, Carter and Sears lead the way for the Bobcats.</p> <p id="kZvpWd">The #3 Ohio Bobcats eliminated a stubborn #6 Ball State Cardinal team, 77-67 at the 2022 Mid-American Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday night. </p>
<p id="XP0NW6">The Bobcats got strong performances from their veteran stars to advance. The game was close throughout the first half and Ball State led for much of the opening period. However, the Cardinals failed to score for three-plus minutes late in the half to allow Ohio to take a 36-35 lead into the locker room. </p>
<p id="W4Yngf">Ohio came out and scored the first 10 points of the second half to take 46-35 lead. The Cardinals seem to be playing catch-up the rest of the game. They did get back to within four points at 55-51 with nine minutes to play, but Ohio went on another extended run that basically but the game out of reach with a lead reaching as high as 23 points at one point. the Cardinals did their best to cut into that lead late, but it was too insurmountable. </p>
<p id="KHhHmN">Mark Sears had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Ohio. Fellow All-MAC selections, Jason Carter and Ben Vander Plas complimented Sears beautifully. Carter scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, while Vander Plas added 14 points. Payton Sparks led the Cardinals with 20 points and 14 rebounds.</p>
<p id="sdcn7T">The Bobcats improve to 24-8 on the year and advance to play #2 Kent State in the semifinals tomorrow evening. Ball State finishes its season at 14-17. </p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/10/22972029/ohio-bobcats-ball-state-cardinals-mac-mens-basketball-tournament-quarterfinal-recap-2022Randy Carpenter2022-03-10T20:05:00-05:002022-03-10T20:05:00-05:00Red-hot Flashes takes care of RedHawks 85-75 to qualify for MAC MBB semifinals
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<figcaption>Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK</figcaption>
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<p>Flashes do just enough to keep RedHawks at bay to stay alive in the MAC Tournament.</p> <p id="QxnByy">The #2 seed Kent State Golden Flashes had a very pedestrian performance by their standards to hand the #7 seed Miami Redhawks an 85-75 defeat in quarterfinal action at the 2022 Mid-American Conference Men’s Tournament in Cleveland on Thursday evening, but it was a performance which allowed them to advance— and keep their double-digit winning streak alive.</p>
<p id="8z3Wsa">The Flashes appeared to be on the verge of running the RedHawks out of Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on several occasions, in both the first and second halves. But to Miami’s credit, they never stopped playing. </p>
<p id="FmwCTu">The Flashes used some hot three-point shooting early to lead as much as 15 points in the first half. However, they failed to score the last 2:30 of the half and Miami was able to get within 41-32 at the intermission. It seemed that the Flashes were dominating the game but only led by nine at the break. </p>
<p id="2tLVQ4">Kent State again had periods in the second half where they were in total control, grabbing its biggest lead of the game at 73-54 with just 3:42 to play.</p>
<p id="YKCBXq">But Miami was not done. RedHawks coach Jack Owens called for a full court press with about two minutes to play. The Flashes had trouble with the pressure and the RedHawks started getting turnovers and subsequent buckets. Remarkably, they got the lead down six points at 81-75 with just 32 seconds remaining. </p>
<p id="vZo2bF">Thankfully for MAC Coach of the Year Rob Senderoff, his Flashes managed to get the job done in the final seconds to secure the 85-75 win.</p>
<p id="LoUXpE">MAC Player of the Year Sincere Carry had a veteran performance for the Flashes with 15 points, 8 assists, four rebounds and two steals. Malique Jacobs led Kent State in scoring with 21 points and added 10 rebounds, while Justyn Hamilton added 15 points off the bench. Precious Ayah led Miami with 15 points.</p>
<p id="ZvPZKB">The Flashes improve to 22-9 on the season and advance to Friday’s MAC semifinals. The Redhawks fall to 14-17 on the season, and will look forward to the next season.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/10/22971902/kent-state-golden-flashes-miami-ohio-redhawks-mac-mens-basketball-quarterfinal-recap-2022Randy Carpenter2022-03-10T16:35:03-05:002022-03-10T16:35:03-05:00Akron outlasts Buffalo 70-68 to advance to MAC MBB semifinals
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<figcaption>Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK</figcaption>
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<p>A back-and-forth game gets decided on free throws, as Bulls miss game-winning three pointer at buzzer. (Boy, that sounds a bit familiar.)</p> <p id="gCi8hH">The 4/5 seed game in any tournament is typically meant to be the most even—and exciting—matchup, and the battle between the fourth-seeded Akron Zips and the fifth-seeded Buffalo Bulls didn’t disappoint in Thursday’s second Mid-American Conference Men;s Basketball quarterfinal game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. </p>
<p id="ZekXzu">The Zips became the second higher-seeded team of the day to survive a potential game-winning three-pointer to win the game and advance to the semifinals, as Ronaldo Segu’s three-point attempt to beat the buzzer fell just short, securing a 70-68 win for Akron.</p>
<p id="Tuv5ua">The game featured nine lead changes and 10 ties, with one of those ties at the half at 32-32. About midway through the second half, the Zips got out to their biggest lead of the game at 57-47 with 10:03 to play. The Bulls didn’t go away, fighting back to tie the game again at 62-all, thanks to a four-point play and a three-pointer by Keishawn Brewton on back-to-back possessions with under five minutes to play.</p>
<p id="YKoHqk">The Bulls took the lead, 67-64 on a Jeenathan Williams layup with 1:26 remaining. But it was all Zips the final minute of the game. Sophomore Greg Trimble came up big for the Zips, hitting four clutch free throws in the final minute. The Zips lead was 70-68 with just four seconds left when the Bulls’ attempt to tie the game from three-point range went awry.</p>
<p id="FhWwOC">Ali Ali led the Zips in scoring with 19, while teammates Xavier Castaneda and Michael Wynn added 15 and 14 respectively. Williams led the Bulls with 17 points. The Zips shot the ball well in this game, shooting 44 percent from the field, 53 percent from three-point range and 81 percent from the free throw line. </p>
<p id="TuytX2">The Zips improve to 22-9 on the season and will advance to play #1 seeded Toledo on Friday evening. Buffalo drops to 19-11 and will wait to see if they play in the postseason.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/10/22971412/akron-zips-buffalo-bulls-mid-american-conference-mens-basketball-quarterfinal-recap-2022Randy Carpenter2022-03-10T14:45:00-05:002022-03-10T14:45:00-05:00Toledo survives CMU and advances in 72-71 quarterfinals victory
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<figcaption>Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The seven-win Chips held the halftime lead, and very nearly came away with the upset victory before RayJ Dennis sank the winning shot with :10 remaining.</p> <p id="agtM3R">Survive and advance is often the motto for teams in March. </p>
<p id="IAVxB9">The top-seeded Toledo Rockets did just that— barely— on Thursday morning against the Central Michigan Chippewas in the opening game of the 2022 Mid-American Conference Men’s Tournament at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, taking home the win by a final score of 72-71.</p>
<p id="ocOTq2">The game was close throughout with neither having a lead of more than seven points at any time. The Chippewas held the lead 32-30 at the half and the game remained close until JT Shumate and Setric Millner, Jr. hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Rockets, who took their largest lead at 64-57 with 5:57 to play. </p>
<p id="X1IYvb">The Rockets till held a seven-point lead (68-61) with just 2:29 left in the game. But the Chippewas refused to go away. Harrison Henderson hit an old-fashion three-point play to pull the Chips within a point at 70-69 with just 57 left to play. Henderson then scored on a dunk and the Chips took the lead, 72-71 with just :20 left. </p>
<p id="DzHlRf">Toledo’s RayJ Dennis would answer with a layup to give the Rockets the lead back, 72-71, with just :10 on the clock. Central Michigan turned the ball over on the ensuing inbound pass after Shumate read the eyes of the inbounder and swatted away the ball, which immediately bounced off the CMU player meant to catch it, giving Toledo the ball with less than a second removed from the clock. </p>
<p id="4FIjKb">The Chips immediately fouled Toledo’s Ryan Rollins, who subsequently missed the front end of the one-and-one. Out of timeouts, the Chips raced down the floor and Henderson heaved a contested desperation shot from outside NBA three-point range, missing badly. CMU could not pick up the rebound, allowing Toledo to survive another day. </p>
<p id="pcwekq">Milliner, Jr. led the Rockets in scoring with 22 points, while Henderson led the Chips with 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Rockets improve to 26-6 on the season while the Chips finish at 7-23. The Rockets advance to the MAC Semifinals on Friday afternoon against either #4 Akron or #5 Buffalo</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/3/10/22971301/toledo-rockets-central-michigan-chippewas-mac-mens-basketball-tournament-quarterfinal-recap-2022Randy Carpenter