By Charley Gillespie
The Associated Press

Central Michigan coach Jay Smith wasn't satisfied after the Chippewas clinched the Mid-American Conference title and the No. 1 seed in the conference's postseason tournament.

"We did it," Smith said Wednesday night after his team beat Northern Illinois 73-57. "I think we proved a lot to some people tonight but there is still room for improvement."

With the win and Miami of Ohio's loss to Ohio, the Chippewas captured their second conference crown in three years.

Chris Kaman scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Central Michigan (20-6, 13-4).

J.R. Wallace added 19 points for Central Michigan while Mike Manciel had 16.

Todd Peterson scored 15 points off the bench to lead Northern Illinois (15-12, 11-6) while Marcus Smallwood and Eugene Bates each scored 12.

"We had a lot of turnovers in this game and just didn't take care of the ball against a very good team," Northern Illinois coach Rob Judson said. "We were with them in the first half but then they just kept pushing."

Also in the West, Nick Moore made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 38 points as Toledo beat Ball State 100-64 Wednesday.

Moore went 14 of 16 from the field, made 4 of 4 free throws and 6 of 7 3-pointers for the Rockets (12-15, 6-11).

Moore scored 17 points in a seven minute span including consecutive 3-pointers that put Toledo up 93-57 with 5:03 remaining.

"I just felt like the whole crowd was telling me to shoot it as soon as I got the ball," Moore said. "Every senior would like to go out like this in their last home game."

Jim Clement made 4 of 5 3-pointers and scored 12 points, Milo Kirsh scored 11 points and Sammy Villegas added 10 points.

Chris Williams led Ball State (13-15, 8-9) with 26 points and Cameron Echols scored 18 points.

Kent State (18-8, 11-6) took over first place in the East after Miami lost 64-56 Wednesday to Ohio.

Brandon Hunter scored 21 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to lead Ohio over Miami (13-13, 11-6).

"This was a very important game for us because we stayed alive to host a first round tournament game," Ohio coach Tim O'Shea said. The Bobcats play Kent State on Saturday.

Ohio (12-14, 8-9) was leading Miami by seven points with only 23 seconds left in the game, when a layup by Juby Johnson cut Ohio's lead to 60-55. Johnson then was fouled by Jaivon Harris and made a free-throw shot to put Miami within four points of Ohio.

A foul by Tim Schenke put Jeff Halbert at the free-throw line, where he made both shots to give Ohio a 62-56 lead with 22 seconds remaining. Johnson then missed a 3-pointer, and Steve Esterkamp grabbed the rebound. He was fouled by Chet Mason and made both of his free throws to put the game away for Ohio.

Esterkamp scored 16 points for Ohio. Johnson led Miami with 17 points.

Also in the East, Darryl Peterson and John Hollingsworth each had 22 points to lead Akron past Marshall 79-71 in a battle for a first round home court site.

Marshall (12-14, 8-9) opened with a 7-0 run, but committed 12 first-half turnovers as Akron took a 34-32 halftime lead.

The Zips (14-12, 9-8) did not trail again.

David Anderson went 9-for-9 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line for 20 points. A.W. Hamilton also was perfect, shooting 6-for-6, including two 3-pointers for 15 points.

Andy Hipsher had 13 points and Derrick Tarver scored 11 for the Zips.

Also in the MAC, Mike Williams scored a game-high 22 points to lead five Western Michigan players in double figures as the Broncos defeated Buffalo 87-66 Wednesday.

It was the second consecutive win and the fourth-straight at home for Western Michigan (17-9, 9-8 Mid-American), which is trying to nail down a home game in next Monday's first round of the conference tournament.

Jason Bird scored 16 points for Buffalo (4-22, 1-16), which lost its 21st consecutive road game. The Bulls have won just once since mid-December and will be the No. 13 seed in the tournament.