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Last night in the MAC ... |
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Wednesday, February 11 2009 |
 NIU freshman Mike DiNunno hit a half-court shot but it wasn't enough
Central Michigan 57, Miami 55.
Jordan Bitzer hit a jumper with 32 seconds remaining to give Central Michigan (7-15, 4-6 MAC) a 56-55 lead while Miami's Adam Fletcher missed a jumper in the waning moments as the Chippewas edged Miami (14-8, 7-3 MAC), 57-55.
The Chippewas' victory snapped a 13-game losing streak against Miami and also ended a three-game MAC losing skid. The loss ended Miami's four game winning streak.
CMU was led by Marcus Van's 18 points and Bitzer added 13 points.
"“Marcus is a warrior,” head coach Ernie Zeigler said after the game. “He is a senior who has battled a lot of adversity. He is playing every game like it is his last.”
Miami was paced by Michael Bramos who recorded a game-high 24 points.
Central Michigan travels to Kent State Saturday night for it next contest while Miami hosts Western Michigan in a game that will be televised on ESPNU at 7:00 pm ET.
Kent State 86, Northern Illinois 83 (2OT).
Al Fisher paced Kent State (13-11, 6-4 MAC) with 21 points to lead the Golden Flashes past Northern Illinois (6-16, 2-8 MAC) 86-83 in double overtime. Fisher scored seven of his team-high 21 points in the extra sessions.
It was a close contest throughout with neither team able to build a lead of more than five points, featuring 18 ties and 16 lead changes.
Northern Illinois frehsman Mike DiNunno scored a game-high 23 points including a 3-pointer from half-court with two seconds remaining in the first overtime that knotted the game at 79-79 and forced a second overtime session.
“Once DiNunno hit that shot I just tried to keep the guys focused on the next overtime,” said Kent State head coach Genor Ford. “Anytime someone hits a huge shot like that, you have to put it behind you and concentrate at the task at hand.”
Kent State had four players in double figures in scoring including Chris Singletary who added 19 points while Anthony Simpson had a double-double 16 point and 14 rebounds. Tyree Evans added 12 points.
Besides DiNunno's game-high 23 points, the Huskies had two other players hit double digits in scoring with Darion Anderson chipping in for 16 points and Sean Kowal adding 10 points in the loss.
The victory was Kent State's fifth straight win while the Huskies went down to defeat for the sixth consecutive game.
Kent State hosts Central Michigan Saturday night while the Huskies travel to Akron.
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