Horizon League Takes 5-of-7 Matchups with MAC on Saturday

While not an official interconference challenge, the Horizon League found success on Saturday, taking 5-of-7 matchups with the Mid-American Conference throughout the day. In the two other non-conference matchups, Milwaukee and Green Bay fell to opponents appearing in the national polls.

#rv/rv Cleveland State 69, Akron 66
For the second time in a week, Cleveland State built a double digit lead in the second half, only to hold on down the stretch, this time knocking off Akron, 69-66.

Cleveland State (10-1) led by 13 points with 13:22 to play, but squandered the lead over the next nine minutes, falling behind 65-64 with 3:31 on the clock. Down 66-64, Jeremy Montgomery would provide the heroics for the Vikings, first knotting the game with two free throws with 1:37 to play.

After an Akron turnover, Montgomery would miss a three, but D'Aundray Brown collected the rebound, giving Cleveland State the ball in the final minute of play. As the shot clock wound down, Montgomery drilled a three from nearly the same spot on the court, putting the Vikings up with 22 ticks remaining.

Akron missed a game-tying attempt with two seconds remaining to seal the result.

Montgomery finished with seven points, while Trey Harmon led the Vikings in scoring for the second straight game, tallying 16 points. Brown and Tim Kamczyc each had 13 points.

#rv/rv Northern Iowa 67, Milwaukee 51
Milwaukee (8-2) was done in by nine Northern Iowa three-pointers, as the Panthers fell to the Panthers, 67-51.

Northern Iowa knocked down 9-of-19 attempts from three-point range, helping the Panthers hold Milwaukee at bay throughout. With just six turnovers, UNI limited the Panthers' ability to get out in transition, holding a 17-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

Ryan Allen helped Milwaukee close within 40-34 in the second half, but Northern Iowa used a 20-11 run to build a 60-45 lead with 4:09 to play.

Returning to his home state, Kaylon Williams had 16 points for Milwaukee, with Kyle Kelm and James Haarsma adding 12 and 10, respectively.

Ball State 58, Butler 55
Butler (4-6) trailed by as many as 13 points, but rallied late before falling to host Ball State, 58-55.

Khyle Marshall had a career day for the Bulldogs, finishing with 21 points and 16 rebounds, helping Butler erase an eight-point halftime deficit. Marshall's final points of the game came with 1:20 to play, as the sophomore knotted the game at 54 with a jumper.

Ball State would respond with a jumper to take a 56-54 lead, and after the Bulldogs failed to connect on a game-tying alley-oop, they were given one more chance to tie after the Cardinals missed two free throws. However, an entry pass to Marshall went off his hand, allowing Ball State to seal the game at the free throw line.

Butler struggled from the floor, converting just 20-of-65 attempts from the field and 3-of-22 from three-point range. Marshall was the lone Bulldog in double figures.

Loyola 57, Toledo 55
Playing without starters Walt Gibler and Joe Crisman, Loyola (2-7) overcame a 14-point deficit to collect its first road win of the season, 57-55, over Toledo.

The victory came in dramatic fashion, as Ben Averkamp drained a 15-foot baseline jumper as time expired, sending the Ramblers home with the win. Averkamp's jumper came after Toledo had the ball with 1.2 seconds remaining, only to throw an inbounds pass off the scoreboard, giving the ball back to Loyola underneath its own basket.

The Ramblers trailed 42-28 with 16:47 remaining in the game, but once again slowly chipped away at a deficit and turned up the heat on the defensive end of the floor. Loyola held Toledo without a field goal for the final 6:08 of regulation and limited UT to 1 of 8 shooting from three-point range after it knocked down 6 of 12 from beyond the arc in the first half.

Averkamp led the comeback, finishing with a career-high 31 points, scoring 17 points in the second half. The junior was the lone Rambler in double figures, with Christian Thomas and Chim Kadima adding nine apiece.

Wright State 51, Miami 49
Wright State (4-6) limited host Miami to 30 percent shooting, collecting a 51-49 win in a matchup of southwest Ohio foes.

Despite hitting just 34 percent of its shots, Wright State opened a 34-27 lead with 14:44 to play on a three-pointer from Reggie Arceneaux, coming on the heels of back-to-back threes from Cole Darling two minutes earlier.

Miami would tie the game behind Julian Mavunga, but Julius Mays and Armond Battle combined to put the Raiders on top, 50-45, with 56 ticks left on the clock. After Jon Harris drilled a three, Mavunga went to the free throw line looking to tie the game, but missed the second of two attempts, with Battle grabbing the rebound with 0.5 to play.

Battle made the first free throw, creating the game's final margin, before missing the second intentionally. Darling was the only Raider in double figures with 13 points.

UIC 62, Northern Illinois 55
Host UIC (3-5) overcame a six-point deficit early in the second half, recording a 62-55 win over visiting Northern Illinois. The win clinched the seven-game Horizon League-MAC showdown on the day.

With the teams going back and forth for much of the second half, it was Matt Bush who put the Flames ahead for good, turning a one-point game into a two-possession contest with a three in front of UIC's bench to push the Flames in front, 42-38.

After Paris Carter scored on consecutive possessions to blunt an 8-1 Northern Illinois run, UIC went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line to seal the game. Marc Brown led the Flames with a game-high 15 points, hitting 3-of-5 attempts from three-point range, while Daniel Barnes added 12 and Gary Talton 11.

Buffalo 80, Youngstown State 72
Youngstown State tied the school record for most 3-pointers in a game for the third time this season, but dropped an 80-72 decision to Buffalo on Saturday evening at Alumni Arena.

Although the Guins shot 40 percent from behind the arc (14-for-35), they had no answer for the inside presence of Buffalo's Javon McCrea and Mitchell Watt, who scored 29 and 20 points, respectively.

The Penguins trailed by just one, 62-61, after a layup by Perry at the 8:38 mark and by six, 67-61, after a 3-pointer by Buffalo's Tony Watson and two free throws from Watt with 7:43 left.

YSU made four consecutive defensive stops but failed to capitalize on offense, missing two jumpers and committing two turnovers.An offensive rebound and layup by McCrea extended the Bulls' lead to eight, 69-61, with 5:10 remaining.

Ward hit three late 3-pointers to get the Guins, who trailed by as many as 10, 74-64, within six, 78-72, with 12 seconds left but Buffalo made two free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Penguins were led by Kendrick Perry's 18 points and 10 assists, with Ashen Ward and Blake Allen each adding 17 points.

Valparaiso 82, Bowling Green 79
In a game which was within one possession for virtually the last 10 minutes of play, it was Valparaiso (7-3) which came up with the big points down the stretch, as the Crusaders went 10-for-12 from the free throw line over the game’s final two minutes to earn an 82-79 victory over Bowling Green at the ARC.

With Bowling Green ahead, 71-69, Kevin Van Wijk was fouled down low, with Torian Oglesby picking up a technical following the whistle. The four free throws, Valparaiso connected on three, opening a 73-71 lead with 1:44 to play. Still up two with 25 seconds left, Ryan Broekhoff found Matt Kenney over the top of the press, with Kenney recording the dunk to put the Crusaders ahead, 78-74, in the waning seconds.

Following a BGSU miss, Broekhoff hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to six points, and while Crawford drilled a deep 3-pointer with just over six seconds to play, Will Bogan knocked down two more free throws in the closing seconds to seal the result.

Jay Harris and Broekhoff each had 20 points, with Broekhoff falling a rebound shy of his fifth double-double of the year. Van Wijk added 16 points, with Kenney finishing with 12.

#11/11 Marquette 79, Green Bay 61
Alec Brown was a force down low for Green Bay (4-6), but host Marquette was too much for the Phoenix in a 79-61 win.

Brown finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, but Marquette used a 12-2 run after the half to open a 19-point lead and effectively seal the result.

Green Bay Head Coach Brian Wardle, who scored 1,690 career points as a Marquette standout from 1997-2001, watched his alma mater score the first six points and race out to an 11-2 lead on Saturday night. After the slow start, the Phoenix played Marquette even the rest of the half with Terry Johnson and Brown scoring seven and six points, respectively. Brown added eight rebounds as the Phoenix held a 21-17 edge on the glass in the opening 20 minutes.

Led by the career-high board total from Brown, Green Bay outrebounded the Golden Eagles 39-34. Brown had eight of the team's 13 rebounds. The 7-foot-1 sophomore moved into sole possession of fourth place on the program's all-time blocks list and now has 95 in 42 career games.