Of course, it had to boil down to the two best teams in the Mid American Conference to battle for the last game of the year in the men’s MAC Championship. Toledo v Kent State. Rockets vs. Flashes.
And on the women’s side the same thing! Toledo v Bowling Green. Rockets vs. Falcons!
Let the madness begin!
How Toledo Got Here
🏀 POTY: RayJ Dennis 🏀@Toledo_MBB | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/JRLQ8CIW90
— #MACtion (@MACSports) March 8, 2023
Yesterday, Toledo ousted Ohio, 82-75. Leading the way for Toledo was MAC Player of the Year, RayJ Dennis, as he poured in 28 points. His backcourt mate, Dante Maddox Jr., was 7 of 8 from the charity stripe in the last 2 minutes of the game en route to his 20 points, as the Bobcats tried to claw back late.
The lead never went above 11 points and was single digits for most of the contest. The play of the game could very well have been this behind the back pass from Dennis to his teammate, Seth Millner, to give the Rockets a 69-60 lead!
3:10 2H | Huge triple from @SethMillner_ following a behind-the-back pass from @rayjdennis 10 puts Rockets up 9!
TOLEDO 69
Ohio 60📺 CBS Sports Network (https://t.co/FdU5LNZi7I)
📊 https://t.co/SvpvypH2ny#TeamToledo #OnlyUs pic.twitter.com/3DRYVdb1MJ— Toledo Men's Basketball (@Toledo_MBB) March 10, 2023
This followed a huge three from Jaylin Hunter for Ohio, that cut the ‘Cats deficit to six. Hunter was 7-11 from beyond the arc for the night for his team high 27 points. But Toledo was just too good defensively and closed out the chance for a trip to the NCAA tournament.
“I thought it was a resilient win,” Toledo coach Tom Kowalczyk said later. “We just never really put them [Ohio] away.”
That makes 17 wins in a row for Toledo. This is their first MAC title game appearance since 2018. They face the team who gave them their last loss back in January, Kent State!
How Kent Got Here
Your Flashes are on to the Championships 🙌🏼😤#KentStMBB x #Team107 pic.twitter.com/UQ2ECGOlPR
— Kent State Men's Basketball (@KentStMBB) March 11, 2023
Kent State defeated Akron again, 79-73, to take the series from their noisy, southwest neighbors! Coach Rob Senderoff’s squad is now one game from the NCAA Dance!
The first half looked like a Kent rout as they jumped out to a 34-19 lead with six minutes left in the half. But Akron coach, Jim Groce, calmed the troops with a timeout, and they responded with a 15-4 run to end the half, 38-34.
Turnovers
But the problem all night for Akron was turnovers. And the Golden Flashes turned those into a whopping 31 points! Kent had four players in double figures, led by Miryne Thomas with 24 (he was 10-10 from the free throw line) and Sincere Carry with 21.
Akron were led by Enrique Freeman’s 26 points and guard Xavier Castaneda’s 21, who, like Kent’s Thomas, was perfect from the free throw line. But Kent’s bench and defense were the stories of the game.
Second Half
The lead for Kent reached 18 points with about 13 minutes left in the second half, but Akron kept chipping away. A personal foul off a timeout by Kent’s Malique Jacobs for taunting led to a four point play and kept Akron hungry. But strong defense and free throw shooting gave Kent the victory. Akron held Kent to no baskets at all for the remaining 8:30 of the contest, but still couldn’t get within more than four.
Kent now faces Toledo, who they beat back in January. This is the Golden Flashes second straight MAC title game. With the win they would head back to the NCAA tournament, a feat last achieved in 2017.
Sincere Carry was asked about the motivation for this game with last year’s tournament run ending in a 20 point loss to Akron.
“Everytime we play Akron it’s going to be a big game with…our rival. We were ready for the situation and we were ready to play.”
For the ‘Ship!
It’s time for some rivalry #MACtion 🏀
🏆🏠: https://t.co/QNkRKDAft0
📺: @CBSSportsNet
📊: https://t.co/QNkRKDAft0 pic.twitter.com/okd7ChG4wL— #MACtion (@MACSports) March 11, 2023
The championship game is set for tonight at 7:30 PM and will be carried on ESPN2. Tickets can be found on the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse site.
The Women’s Final is set!
The top two seeds in the MAC tournament will battle for the chance to continue playing in the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament! Bowling Green (#2) will battle Toledo (#1) today at 11:00 AM also at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Toledo’s win
🚀 ➡️ 🏆 🏀 @toledowbb | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/W1VSKXZOX1
— #MACtion (@MACSports) March 10, 2023
Toledo will be hoping to join their men’s team as MAC champions as they defeated Kent State, 68-58 yesterday. Toledo held Kent to 13% shooting from the field in the first quarter as they took a 10 point lead at the end of quarter 1. Kent battled back to make it a 28-27 game at halftime.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Kent grabbed a four point lead after an old-fashioned three point play by Flashes guard Casey Santoro. But that would be their last lead as the Lady Rockets grabbed four points off BG’s turnovers and six points off each of their three offensive rebounds in the quarter.
Toledo upped their record to 27-4 with the win. Kent’s season ends with a tally of 21-10.
Bowling Green’s win
BG is MAC Championship bound! 🏆#MACtion pic.twitter.com/FOmiFKaYxr
— #MACtion (@MACSports) March 10, 2023
The Falcons nine player rotation wore down the Cardinals of Ball State as they grabbed a 70-61 win yesterday. BGSU had four in double figures led by Elissa Brett’s 16. Bowling Green shot 43% from trey land, while holding Ball State to just 18% for the contest.
Ball State had a 34-31 advantage at the break. But as the third period began, Jocelyn Tate made a layup off an Anna Clephane travel. Another turnover on their next possession by BSU’s Madelyn Bischoff turned into an Amy Velasco layup and the Falcons really never looked back from there.
For the ‘Ship!
Tomorrow… 👀🏆 #MACtion pic.twitter.com/ySWZWQZ5nq
— #MACtion (@MACSports) March 11, 2023
BGSU gets a chance to avenge the loss a week ago to this Toledo team in the Battle of I-75 sponsored by Cooper Tires! Toledo were down by 17 points but somehow pulled off an amazing comeback over their rivals to secure their MAC regular season crown!
Now it’s time for the chance to continue their season in the NCAA Tournament!
Good luck to all four teams today!
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