2016-2017 MAC Men’s Basketball Recap: November 26th

BOWLING GREEN 90 Morgan State 58 - The Bowling Green Falcons 2-4 blew out the Morgan State Bears on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons shot a blistering 50% from the field on 64 shots. The bench for the Falcons actually outscored the starters 48-42 with the two biggest contributions coming from Matt Fox and Dylan Frye. In Frye’s case this was his coming out party for the season as he had 15 points in a very efficient 19 minutes.

EASTERN MICHIGAN 94 Omaha 77 - Eastern Michigan uses their home court advantage and improves to 4-3 overall and 3-0 at home. James Thompson IV turned in an all-star performance with 21 points 11 rebounds and 9-10 from the free throw line. Seniors Ray Lee, Ty Toney and Willie Magnum IV did the rest as they overpowered the Omaha defense for 49 points on 37 shot attempts. If the Eagles can continue to leverage their seniors and Thompson IV’s strong numbers they’ll have a real shot at going far in the MAC tourney. (Photo Gallery)

CENTRAL MICHIGAN 89 Green Bay 77 - Marcus Keene continue his high scoring for the Chippewa's putting up 31 points. Keene now has 30+ points in five of his first seven games of the season and looks poised to compete for an All-MAC team this season. The Chippewa's pulled away a late and move to 5-2 overall putting together a nice non conference resume through seven games. (Recap)

NORTHERN ILLINOIS 91 University of Illinois Chicago 82- NIU closes out their Thanksgiving Classic with a win over in state UIC. The Huskies used contributions from senior Aaric Armstead, Jaylen Key and Marin Maric along with a surprise contribution from true freshman Eugene German. NIU now has a rematch with Indiana State on November 30th looking to sweep the season series. (Recap)

MIAMI 81 Western Illinois 72- Miami evened their record at 3-3 behind Jake Wright’s perfect night behind the three point line. Wright ended up with five three’s all of which proved crucial in Miami’s nine point win. After Miami trailed 34-31 after the first half the Red Hawks closed with a 50-38 run for the victory. Logan McLane had 17 points off the bench to pair with Wright shooting 50% from the field and 7-8 from the line.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE 73 Toledo 70 - In a rematch of mid-major opponents we needed overtime for this game. Toledo controlled the first half with a 30-22 lead after 20 minutes. The bad news for the Rockets is Middle Tennessee replicated the Rockets first half performance outscoring the Rockets 39-31 in the second half. Middle Tennessee was led by Giddy Potts and JaCorey Williams who combined for 54 points. They were just too much for Toledo as the rest of MTSU shot only 5 for 23 from the field. In the loss senior Steven Taylor Jr. contributed a solid 14 points and 17 rebounds for the 3-3 Rockets.

WESTERN MICHIGAN 80 Central Arkansas 63 - In a battle of one win teams someone was going to have to gain their second win. On paper it looked like it would be a close game but Western Michigan was in the drive seat from the get go. Drake Lamont was a presence inside with 24 points and eight free throws made. In addition to Lamont superstar junior Thomas Wilder chipped in 16 points for the 2-4 Broncos. It was the Broncos first win this season over a Division 1 Opponent as their lone win was against NAIA Marygrove.

BUFFALO 74 Weber State 71 - Buffalo moves to 4-2 as they clip Weber State on Saturday night. Buffalo took home third place in a field that include Oakland, Nevada, Weber State and Iona. All of which have been contenders for NCCA bids within their respective conferences the past five years. Blake Hamilton led the way for the Bulls with 23 points and eight rebounds. The senior is the person the Bulls lean on in moments like this and provided a very impressive showing in the Great Alaska Shootout.

AKRON 65 Mercer 63- Let me introduce you to your SAVANNAH INVITATIONAL Champions the Akron Zips. The Zips beat the Radford Highlanders, Georgia Southern Eagles, Air Force Falcons and Mercer in the championship game. It was an impressive run of four games for the Zips and puts them in good position to prepare for MAC Conference games starting in January. The Zips still have two huge games on their non-conference slate 12/3 at #12 Creighton and 12/10 at #11 Gonzaga. If the Zips could manage to pull a victory out at either venue it would go along way to potentially boost an NCCA tourney resume later on in the season.