No. Illinois escapes to beat Akron

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DEKALB, Ill. — Darion Anderson scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds for a double-double, along with a game-high six assists, to lead Northern Illinois to an 83-79 victory over Akron on Sunday.

Northern Illinois (7-16, 3-8 Mid-American Conference) had a 12-point 46-24 lead over Akron (16-9, 7-4 Mid-American Conference) going into half time. Akron came back from the break to outscore Northern Illinois 45-37 in the second period, but the rally wasn’t enough for the win.

Tyler Storm, Sean Kowal and Sean Smith each added 13 points for Northern Illinois.

Brett McKnight came off the bench to lead Akron with 24 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.

Illinois-Chicago 83, Valparaiso 76

VALPARAISO, Ind. — Robo Kreps and Josh Mayo both scored a game-high 25 points to lead Illinois-Chicago.

Tori Boyd added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Flames (12-14, 5-11 Horizon), who trailed Valparaiso 43-40 at the half.

The Crusaders (7-19, 4-11) led by as many as nine points after the break before the Flames rallied, starting with a Kreps’ 3-pointer with 5:09 left that put Illinois-Chicago ahead 71-70.

Loyola of Chicago 71, No. 15 Butler 67

INDIANAPOLIS — Freshman Jordan Hicks scored a career-high 23 points and Loyola of Chicago snapped a six-game losing streak.

The Ramblers (13-15, 5-11 Horizon League) notched their first win over a ranked opponent since a 75-71 victory at Butler two years ago. The loss prevented the Bulldogs (22-3, 13-2) from clinching at least a share of their third straight conference regular-season championship.

E. Michigan 65, Bowling Green 57

BOWLING GREEN — Zane Gay came off the bench to score 17 points and lead Eastern Michigan.

It was Eastern Michigan’s first road win this season and snapped an eight-game losing streak. Brandon Bowdry had his fourth double-double of the year with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles (4-21, 2-9 MAC).

Gay was 5-of-8 on 3-pointer attempts. Nate Miller was the game’s leading scorer with 18 points, but it wasn’t enough for Bowling Green (14-10, 7-4 MAC).