Rayson helps men's basketball eek out exhibition win over Saginaw Valley
Braylon Rayson’s 3-pointer with 4:09 remaining sparked a 10-2 Central Michigan University run that put away a 68-61 exhibition win over Saginaw Valley State Sunday at McGuirk Arena.
Rayson led CMU in scoring with 23 points as he buried six of his 10 3-point attempts. He also led the Chippewas in rebounds with nine.
“I really was hot,” Rayson said. “When the first (shot) went in, I knew it. I was like ‘now I’m good.’ I had to get in a rhythm.”
CMU attempted 24 shots from beyond the arc. The men were 21st in the nation last year with 777 3-point attempts, and average of more than 25 attempts per game.
“When you challenge him to be great at something, he’s going to step up to the challenge,” said Head Coach Keno Davis of Rayson. “We talked about the toughness and the rebounding. If you rebound, you play, if you lockdown people defensively, you’re going to play.”
There were nine lead changes Sunday, as the Cardinals climbed back into the game in the second half after trailing 40-31 at halftime.
SVSU led by as many as three in the second half with under seven minutes to play.
“When it got to the last five or six minutes, that’s where I went with the veterans,” Davis said. “To be able to have a game come down to the wire and get to work on some things, this was a good opportunity.”
The freshman forward trio of DaRohn Scott, Milos Cabarkapa and Luke Meyer combined for three shots and four rebounds against SVSU.
“We’re going to expect more out of our inside game,” Davis said. “We need more players, whether it’s in the post or more guards, to be able to be physical.”
Scott blocked four shots, three of which came in the second half.
“There was a minute-and-a-half stretch where DaRohn blocked three shots and got a dunk,” said junior guard Chris Fowler, who scored 19 points. “If everybody reaches that level every minute they’re on the court, we can reach that level and we’re going to be a good team.”
Davis said this is the athleticism he’s come to expect from the freshman.
“You see the blocked shots,” Davis said. “You see the athleticism that he brings, you’re going to see that from the other guys as well. It’s nice to have, but we could have used him the last couple years.”
CMU will play its first regular season game at 7 p.m. Friday against Division III opponent Alma.
