Sports Update: Men's basketball defeats Ferris State
The men’s basketball team won its first game of the season Monday, defeating Ferris State 82-69 in Rose Arena.
Senior guard Robbie Harman led the team with 18 points and seven steals. Junior Jalin Thomas scored 10 points and had a team-leading 12 rebounds.
The win comes two days after the team lost its season opening game against Princeton 71-68 in Rose Arena.
“I think we responded to the challenge that was imposed on our guys by myself in the last 48 hours since the Princeton game,” said coach Ernie Zeigler. “I think our effort was extremely better in attempting to try to do the things that we want to do.”
CMU overcame an early deficit to pick up its first win. The team was down 15-9 with 14:20 remaining in the first half.
From that point the Chippewas picked up its play, outscoring Ferris 25-14 the rest of the half.
Ferris State head coach Bill Sall credited CMU’s change in defensive style to zone coverage as a major factor in the Chippewas success.
“We really struggled with their zone,” he said.
CMU (1-1) outscored Ferris 46-40 in the second half, lead by Harman's 11 points in the final 20 minutes.
The Bulldogs were lead by guard Darien Gay, who had 26 points on 9-of-11 field goal shooting. He was 8-of-9 from three point range.
A different rotation
Freshman guard Finis Craddock and junior forward William McClure got the start Monday in place of senior forward Chris Kellermann and junior forward Marko Spica.
Kellermann and Spica combined for just seven points and one rebound in the team’s loss against Princeton last Saturday.
Zeigler said he wants to see a better rebounding effort out of those two players.
The team places the University of Illinois-Chicago at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Rose Arena. UIC has won three straight years against the Chippewas.
Check Wednesday’s edition for expanded coverage and a preview of the team’s game against UIC.
