Men's basketball team misses 3-pointer at buzzer; drops third-straight game

Trey Zeigler and Austin Keel had 3-point shots that would  put Central Michigan in overtime Saturday afternoon against Western Michigan inside University Arena in Kalamazoo.

With CMU down three and 15 seconds left, Keel,  slipped on the inbound pass, forcing Zeigler to take a difficult 3-point attempt with five seconds remaining.

It was long, hitting the glass and rim before falling out, giving WMU a 64-61 victory in front of 3,958 fans.

Keel and Zeigler were one 3-pointer short after hitting three between the two of them in the final 4:10, cutting an 11 point lead to four.

“We drew up a play for Keel to get a catch-and-shoot opportunity and Western switched every screen, so he ended up getting denied,” Zeigler said. “It was just kind of a broken play and Austin (McBroom) tried to make a play, then I just popped up and tried to get a shot attempt.”

CMU took a one-point lead into the halftime. But baskets by sophomore center Matt Stainbrook and senior forward Flenard Whitfield sparked a 10-0 run, giving the Broncos a 44-33 lead in the second half.

“They made some shots and got out in transition,” said head coach Ernie Zeigler. “During that 10-0 run, we missed some shots. Those first four possessions we started the second half, we missed three wide-open shots that we forced some turnovers on and we had a chance and it could have been a run the other way.”

Trey struggled to make anything in the first half, shooting 3-for-11. In the second half he stepped up.

The sophomore guard knocked down 5-of-6 free throws and continuously found ways to keep his team in the game.

He received a pass from sophomore guard Derek Jackson on the left baseline with the Chippewas down five and spun through Bronco defenders on his way to the basket for a lay in with 2:21 remaining.

“We were able to move him around to be a little more aggressive and he did a really good job of playing with great intensity and it’s something we hope we can build upon,” Ernie said about Trey.

Trey scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-18 shooting. CMU forced 20 turnovers, but shot 34.4 percent from the field. The Chippewas were outrebounded 39-26.

CMU (7-11, 2-3 in the Mid-American Conference) looks to snap its three-game losing streak at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Bowling Green in Bowling Green, Ohio.