Ohio, Toledo secure MAC semifinal spots

• AJ Brown led Ohio past Ball State on March 9 with 28 points off the bench in a 90-70 win in the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and secured a spot in the semifinal round.

Brush graduate Elmore James — who this week was named to the MAC’s AllFreshman team — scored 11 points and had five rebounds for the Bobcats.

Brown added seven rebounds and three steals for the Bobcats (19-13). Jaylin Hunter was 4 of 10 shooting, including 2 for 5 from distance, and went 3 for 5 from the line to add 13 points. Dwight Wilson recorded 11 points and shot 5 of 8 from the field.

Payton Sparks led the way for the Cardinals (2012) with 21 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Ball State also got 11 points from Demarius Jacobs. Jarron Coleman had 10 points and five assists.

• Setric Millner Jr. and El Farmer had 19 points each in top-seeded Toledo’s 91-75 win against eighth-seeded Miami (Ohio) in a MAC quarterfinal.

Millner had seven rebounds for the Rockets (26-6). Farmer was 5 of 6 shooting and 8 of 10 from the free throw line to add 19 points. JT Shumate shot 7 for 10 and 2 of 4 from the free throw line to finish with 17 points, while adding three blocks. It was the 15th victory in a row for the Rockets.

Morgan Safford led the way for the RedHawks (12-20) with 21 points and seven rebounds. Anderson Mirambeaux added 16 points and six rebounds for Miami. Julian Lewis also had 13 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Toledo led, 48-33, at halftime, with Millner scoring 12 points.

• Malique Jacobs had 19 points in Kent State’s 76-57 win against Northern Illinois.

Jacobs also contributed three steals for the Golden Flashes (26-6). Cli’Ron Hornbeak scored 16 points and added nine rebounds. Sincere Carry added 13 points.

Zarigue Nutter finished with 13 points for the Huskies (13-18, 0-1). Northern Illinois also got 10 points from Anthony Crump as did David Coit.

Kent State led halftime.