State roundup: Eastern Michigan ends 7-game slide
Ypsilanti — James Thompson IV notched his 35th career double-double and erased an early deficit with a pair of free throws as Eastern Michigan rolled to an 84-68 victory against Northern Illinois on Saturday, halting a seven-game losing streak.
Willie Mangum IV led the Eagles with 22 points, Ray Lee added 21 — his third straight game at 20-plus — and Thompson finished with 17 points and 12 boards. He shot 4-for-6 from the floor and was 9-of-11 at the line.
Thompson’s free throws at 15:25 of the first half erased a five-point deficit, put the Eagles up 11-10 and Eastern Michigan (14-15, 6-10 Mid-American Conference) led by as many as 21 en route to the win. Tim Bond had nine assists and 11 points for Eastern Michigan.
Eugene German scored 23 to lead Northern Illinois (15-14, 7-9) and Marin Maric scored 20 with 12 rebounds. Aaric Armstead, who averages nearly 10 points and six boards per game for the Huskies, was held to five points and five rebounds.
(At) Western Michigan 80, Ball State 55: Tucker Haymond scored 21 points as Western Michigan moved into a first-place tie with Ball State in the Mid-American West Division.
Thomas Wilder added 16 points and Brandon Johnson 10 for the Broncos (13-15, 9-7), who have won seven of their last eight games, including six in a row, after starting conference play 2-6, including an 84-78 loss to Ball State on Jan. 28.
Tayler Person scored 15 points and Franko House 13 for the Cardinals (18-11, 9-7), who had won three straight games and were 7-0 against division opponents until Saturday’s loss.
A 12-0 run gave the Broncos the lead for good, 19-10, midway through the first half. They went up by double figures for good on a dunk by Seth Dugan with 16:33 left in the game. An 11-0 run gave the Broncos a 29-point lead with three minutes remaining.
Calvin 86, (at) Hope 83: Cam Denney scored 21 and Michael Welch 15 as Calvin (17-10) won the MIAA tournament championship game. Dante Hawkins scored 31 for Hope (21-6).
Women
Detroit Mercy 83, (at) Youngstown State 67: Brianne Cohen scored 17 to surpass 1,000 career points and Rosanna Reynolds had a team-high 21 points as the Titans (16-13, 12-6) clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Horizon League tournament at Joe Louis Arena March 3-7. Indiya Benjamin had 22 points to lead Youngstown State (9-20, 5-13).
Oakland 93, (at) Cleveland State 79: Taylor Jones scored 26, including five 3-pointers, and Leah Somerfield had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Grizzlies (18-12, 12-6 Horizon). Taylor Gleason, who was 8-of-15 from field, added 21 points for Oakland, which finished tied with Detroit for third place and will be the fourth seed in the Horizon League tournament March 3-7. Ashanti Abshaw had 20 points for Cleveland State (14-15, 9-9).
(At) Ball State 81, Central Michigan 73: Destiny Washington (21) and Moriah Monaco (20) combined for 41 points for Ball State (20-8, 13-3) in a clash of the Mid-America Conference West Division's top two teams. Tinara Moore scored 25 for the Chippewas (21-7, 13-3), who saw their seven-game winning streak end.
(At) Toledo 75, Western Michigan 67: Deja Wimby scored a career-high 26 points and Breanna Mobley added her 17th career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Broncos (16-11, 7-9), who have lost back-to-back games after posting consecutive wins. Mikaela Boyd scored 23 and Janice Monakana added 13 to lead Toledo (19-8, 10-6).
Northern Illinois 81, (at) Eastern Michigan 71: Phillis Webb scored a career-high 31 points on 13-of-26 shooting as the Eagles (6-22, 1-15) dropped their eighth straight. Courtney Woods had 22 points to lead Northern Illinois (19-8, 12-4).