Toledo snaps six-game losing streak to CMU men’s basketball team winning 72-67

The Central Michigan men’s basketball team’s six-game winning streak against Toledo ended Wednesday night.

The Rockets defeated CMU 72-67 in Toledo.

“Defensively, we couldn’t get stops when we needed to,” head coach Ernie Zeigler said.  “It was a game where both teams shot the ball really well and we just came up on the short end of the stick.”

CMU sophomore guard Trey Zeigler had a career-high 33 points in the loss and also led the team with eight rebounds.

“I’m just trying to make a real effort to be real aggressive this last part of the season and it paid off tonight,” Trey said.  “I think it’s going to be key for us to make a run going into the MAC Tournament.”

Despite shooting nearly 52 percent from the field, the Chippewas defense could not contain guard Julius Brown.  He had a team-high 29 points on 10-11 shooting.

Toledo guard Dennis Curtis added 18 points in the victory.

The game remained close throughout with neither team holding a lead larger than nine points.

CMU (8-19, 3-10 Mid-American Conference) trailed 33-27 with 4:10 left to go in the first half before going on a 9-0 run to take the lead.  Sophomore Derek Jackson hit a 3-pointer and freshman Austin McBroom converted a layup off a steal to cap off the run.

“It was a valiant effort,” Ernie said.  “I think our kids really responded.  We played confident offensively and had some great contributions across the board.”

The Rockets added four more points before the half to take the 37-36 lead.

Tied at 49 with 9:18 into the second half, Toledo gradually increased its lead to 64-53 with 5:32 remaining.

CMU made it a 3-point game with 22 seconds left but could not complete the comeback attempt.

Ernie was pleased with his team’s ability to create points off turnovers.

“We forced 15 turnovers and we knew we could pressure in different situations and focus on turning that in to offense,” he said.

CMU will host Northern Illinois (3-23, 2-11) at 2 p.m. Sunday at McGuirk Arena in a battle of the two teams with the worst records in the MAC.