STORY AND ALL PHOTOS BY MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, Ohio – The Western Michigan Broncos took advantage of hosting Miami’s poor second half shooting and turnovers to edge the RedHawks, 72-68, Wednesday at Millett Hall.

WMU connected on 60 percent (12/20) of its shots from the field after intermission while Miami netted 8-of-28 (28.6 percent).    

Junior Shane Whittington, who played only 16 minutes due to foul problems, nonetheless led WMU with 13 points and was there when the Broncos needed him, according to Broncos head coach Steve Hawkins.

Whittington re-entered the contest a final time when Connar Tava fouled out at 1:26.  Western Michigan (13-7, 5-2 MAC) led 67-66 after MU’s Reggie Johnson made one of two charity tosses. When David Brown missed a long 3-point attempt on the Bronco’s next possession, Whittington was there on the weak side for a put-back..

The Mid-American Conference on Monday announced its Men’s Basketball Players of the Week.

By J. SCOTT FITZWATER
Rather than make snarky remarks about the NIU-EMU game, I'm going to jump right into the rankings. Unless noted, statistics are for conference games only:

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) –Eastern Michigan turned in a record-breaking defensive performance, defeating the Northern Illinois Huskies, 42-25, Saturday afternoon in the Convocation Center.
 
For the Eagles (10-10; 3-3 MAC), the game stood as the first time since Dec. 7, 2004 that the team held an opponent to less than 30 points. That feat occurred against Rochester College, 89-29. The 25 points given up were also the lowest points EMU has allowed since Jan. 21, 1943, when Eastern defeated Hillsdale College, 61-21.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Blake Hibbitts knocked down a trio of long range jumpers to lead Central Michigan with 14 points but not much else fell for the Chippewas, who battled through their lowest shooting night of the season in a 76-59 Mid-American Conference loss to Western Michigan.

By EVAN MEYER
KENT, OHIO – Senior guard D.J, Cooper made two free throws with 56.1 seconds remaining as the Ohio University Bobcats held off a late charge by the Kent State Golden Flashes for a 69-68 victory Saturday evening before an enthusiastic crowd of 5,453 fans at the MAC Center.

Ohio (15-9, 6-0 MAC) picked up its seventh consecutive “W” and remained tied with Akron in the MAC Eastern Division as the Zips came back from double digits in the second half to defeat Buffalo 68-64 at Rhodes Arena.

AKRON, Ohio – A second-half surge courtesy of a 19-0 run helped the Akron Zips erase a 20-point deficit to defeat the Buffalo Bulls, 68-64, on Saturday night in front of 5,403 rowdy fans at James A. Rhodes Arena.

TOLEDO, OH – Toledo sent a season-high 6,361 fans home happy on Saturday evening with a 75-62 triumph over arch-rival Bowling Green in its Third-Annual Tie One On game in Savage Arena. The Rockets dominated the glass by a 37-25 margin and were a near-perfect 26-of-27 from the charity stripe to end a three-game losing streak as well as a four-game skid in its series with the Falcons.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, Ohio –  The Ball State Cardinals put it all together Saturday, with the result being a decisive 82-62 road win over Miami at Millett Hall. While the RedHawks (7-11, 2-4 MAC) were dropping their third in a row and second straight at home, BSU  (8-10, 2-4 MAC) was ending a four-game losing streak.

“I really feel like we’ve been overdue for this,”Ball State head coach Billy Taylor said.  “We’ve had a number of games where we have been so close, so for us to finally put it all together is really fulfilling for me to see as a coach.”

MUNCIE, IN – For just the second time in nine trips to Worthen Arena, the Buffalo Bulls beat the hosting Ball State Cardinals, 66-63, on Wednesday night. It was the Bulls’ (7-12) second-straight win as they improved  to 2-3 in Mid-American Conference play. Ball State dropped to 7-10 overall, 1-4 MAC.