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Miami (Ohio) cruises past SMU to roll in March Madness First Four matchup

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Miami (Ohio) cruises past SMU to roll in March Madness First Four matchup


DAYTON, Ohio — Eian Elmer scored 22 points and Miami (Ohio) beat SMU 89-79 on Wednesday night in the First Four for its first NCAA Tournament victory in 27 years.

Elmer went 6 of 9 from 3-point range as the 11th-seeded RedHawks (32-1), undefeated during the regular season, advanced in the Midwest Region to play No. 6 seed Tennessee on Friday in Philadelphia.

Brant Byers added 19 points, including four 3s, and Luke Skaljac had 17 points for Miami, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007. The RedHawks finished 16 of 41 from 3-point range.

Eian Elmer celebrates after a dunk during the second half of Miami (Ohio’s) 89-79 win over SMU in a First Four game of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 18, 2026 in Dayton, Ohio. Getty Images

“The message I gave our guys before the game was they should leave no doubt with who the more attacking team was,” Miami (Ohio) coach Travis Steele said. “I thought that was very evident from the jump ball all the way to the end of the game.”

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Jaden Toombs led SMU (20-14) with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 18 points and Boopie Miller had 15 for the Mustangs, who reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nine years. They’re still looking for their first victory in the event since 1988.

Miami went 31-0 during a captivating regular season — the only Division I team to go unbeaten in 2025-26 and just the nation’s eighth undefeated regular season in the past 50 years.

But the RedHawks lost their MAC Tournament opener to UMass, putting their NCAA Tournament hopes in jeopardy because of a schedule that ranked 339th in overall strength and featured no Quadrant 1 games.

Some analysts and critics questioned whether they belonged in the field with an at-large bid, but Miami silenced some skeptics Wednesday with a rousing victory over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.

“We’re not really focused on proving whether we belong, honestly,” Elmer said. “Everybody in the locker room thinks we do. I just think if anything we’re just going to go out there, play our hardest and have fun.”

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Miam (Ohio) player Brant Byers shoots a jumper during the second half of their win over SMU during a First
Four game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament. Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Elmer had 14 points and went 4 of 6 from 3-point range in the first half. Byers hit back-to-back 3s to give Miami an 11-point lead.

“They put five guys on the court that can shoot the 3, so they’re hard to guard,” SMU coach Andy Enfield said. “We outscored them in the paint 46-20 tonight, which was our game plan to really try to score the ball in the lane.”

SMU missed its first seven 3-point attempts before Pierre connected with 7:02 remaining in the first half. The Mustangs went 5 of 19 from long distance.

Almar Atlason hit a pair of 3s to give the RedHawks a 63-50 advantage early in the second half. He scored 12 points.

Jackson Kotecki and Peter Suder hug and celebrate with teammates after the Redhawks’ win over the Mustangs. Getty Images

Skaljac’s transition 3 extended Miami’s lead to 71-57.

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SMU had a size advantage, but foul trouble negated some of that. Mustangs 7-foot-2 center Samet Yigitoglu fouled out with 1:31 remaining. He finished with eight points and six rebounds.

The undersized RedHawks matched SMU with 35 rebounds and 17 second-chance points.

“Listen, our group is uber-confident,” Steele said. “We know we belong. I told our guys afterwards, man, I’m happy, but the job is not finished. We want to continue to advance in this thing.”

Magic man

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Peter Suder had the assist of the night when he gathered an outlet pass from Skaljac and bounced a pass across the paint to Elmer, who caught it and scored with one hand to put the RedHawks ahead 20-13.

“That’s like some March magic,” Skaljac said.

Suder had six assists, but that one caught Elmer by surprise.

“I was expecting a lob,” he said. “Peter was running full speed so I was just trailing. He made an amazing pass, and I got lucky, honestly.”

Steele hopes the RedHawks’ victory will earn more respect for mid-major programs.

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“I mean, we had to basically be perfect in the whole regular season to get an at-large,” he said. “There’s a lot of good teams. Those teams can compete with anybody, but they don’t get the opportunities in the regular season to put them in a position to where they can get an at-large bid.”

With the First Four in Dayton, fewer than 50 miles from Miami’s campus, the crowd was decidedly in the RedHawks’ favor.

“Home game for Miami,” Enfield said. “They probably had 12,000 fans here, it felt like. So they were loud and they fed off the energy.”



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Ohio

$150,000 funding to be voted on for the Lisbon pool

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0,000 funding to be voted on for the Lisbon pool


LISBON, Ohio (WKBN)- We could find out as soon as Wednesday whether or not funding will be coming to help repair the Lisbon pool.

Mayor Pete Wilson says he spoke with State Representative Monica Robb Blasdel.

He says their $150,000 request was added into the state capital expenditures bill, which is expected to be voted on Wednesday. The Mayor says he was told the vote is a formality and that the funding will be approved.

He says with this funding, they hope to have the pool open next year.

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Trumbull County Commissioners discuss property tax reduction

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Trumbull County Commissioners discuss property tax reduction


WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) — Trumbull County Commissioners at Tuesday’s weekly workshop meeting discussed the possibility of enacting an additional 2.5% reduction in property taxes for people occupying homes.

Although no decision was made, all the commissioners agreed it was a good idea.

The owner occupancy deduction was one option enacted last year by the Ohio Legislature to lower property taxes.

The other option was the homestead deduction for homeowners 65 or older or permanently disabled. The owner occupancy deduction is the smaller of the two.

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The commissioners indicated they hope to vote before July 1.

The deduction would save homeowners $25 for every $1,000 in property taxes but will mean less money for the townships, school and Trumbull County.



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Mass shooting at Ohio festival that wounded 12 stemmed from dispute between rival groups, police say

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Mass shooting at Ohio festival that wounded 12 stemmed from dispute between rival groups, police say


A mass shooting that left 12 people wounded on Saturday afternoon at a summer festival in Ohio stemmed from “a dispute involving two rival groups,” according to police.

Gunfire rang out just after 5:30 p.m. near the Old West End Festival in Toledo from two gunmen, one from each group, police said. A dozen people were hurt, with the oldest victim being 61 and the youngest 14, police Lt. Dan Gerken said Saturday, noting most were in their early 20s.

Toledo Police Chief Michael Troendle said Tuesday that a dispute between rival groups led to “a foot chase,” a physical altercation and one person producing a firearm and shooting before someone from the rival group did the same and returned fire.

“While investigators believe some of the victims are intentionally targeted, the majority of those injured appear to have been innocent bystanders caught up in this senseless act of violence,” Troendle said during a news briefing.

Police estimate that three of the victims were involved in the incident, while nine were caught in the crossfire. All of the victims are expected to survive, with nine already having been released from the hospital, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said at the Tuesday briefing.

Toledo Fire & Rescue Chief Allison Armstrong said bystanders helped in the aftermath of the shooting by administering tourniquets to the injuries of the victims and providing them with comfort.

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“While that act showed us the worst of humanity, what followed in the moments after showed us the very best,” Armstrong said.

Detectives have continued conducting interviews since the incident and “identified several persons of interest,” Troendle said. The gunmen police believe to be responsible are between the ages of 18 and 24, and still at large, he said.

Before the shooting, a deputy sheriff at the festival was about to check a bag when someone grabbed it and ran off with it, Troendle said, adding that police are “still trying to piece all that together.” It is not clear who the bag belonged to, or if the firearm was used in the shooting.

Since the shooting, Troendle said that investigators have recovered and are examining two firearms that are believed to be connected to the shooting.

“While there’s still work to be done, I can tell you that investigators continue to make progress,” Troendle said.

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Kapszukiewicz said moving forward, young people need to be held accountable for their actions.

“The reality is they did something that deserves punishment and accountability, and when our police find them and arrest them, they will be held accountable,” he said about the gunmen.

Kapszukiewicz also said he thinks the city should finish hosting the Old West End Festival, which was halted a day early after Saturday’s shooting. He said late summer or early September would be a good time to “put a bow on that weekend.”

Changes, including strengthened curfews and more opportunities to check bags, are being discussed for events like the Old West End Festival, Kapszukiewicz said.

“Our heart is broken, and it will take time to work through what happened, and to seek to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

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