Central Michigan 75, Youngstown State 63: Men's basketball moves to 2-0 on season


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Junior guard Chris Fowler attempts a no-look pass on Tuesday at McGuirk Arena.

Head Coach Keno Davis said Tuesday’s game was the kind of game the Central Michigan University men's basketball team often lost last year.

The Chippewas (2-0) made just six of the 26 3-point attempts they tried in a 75-63 win over Youngstown State (1-2) at McGuirk Arena.

“We had talked in the last couple years about what happens when you’re not shooting the ball well,” Davis said. “ We (knew) we could win some games this year on rebounding alone, even on a night when we don’t shoot well and the other team makes shots.”

To compensate for the missed long-range shots, the Chippewas out rebounded YSU 53-30. Junior John Simons hauled in 12 boards and freshman Luke Meyer grabbed nine.
Junior guard Chris Fowler led all CMU scorers with 16 points.

“We’ve been in a lot of those games in our first two years,” Simons said. “We’ve had an eight, nine point lead with seven minutes to go and the last two years we might have slipped up and not won the game. We know what has to be done in order to close out a game like that.”

The Chippewas led the entire game and took a nine point lead into halftime.

YSU’s Marcus Keene led a second-half charge for the Penguins, scoring 22 of his 24 points in the last period.

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The Penguins closed the gap to six points with 4:20 to play, but Fowler engineered a 6-0 run to help the Chippewas seal the victory.

Fowler drove to the basket three consecutive times, leading to four consecutive Chippewas points. Then, a put-back layup by Meyer widened the lead to a more comfortable level for the men in the maroon and goal.

“We challenged (Meyer) before the game because their center was their key player coming into the game,” Fowler said. “Luke actually turned the tables. It was a big-time performance from a big-time player.”

Meyer scored 13 points in his 23 minutes before fouling out with 2:34 left in the game.

Freshmen DaRohn Scott and Milos Cabarkapa combined for 13 minutes on the court Tuesday. Davis expects to spread the minutes between the three freshmen (Scott, Cabarkapa and Meyer) in the upcoming games.

“DaRohn has some offensive moves,” Davis said. “Milos will continue to see more and more time. (He) didn’t see as much because of the matchups, it wasn’t the best team for him to play as many minutes, but I have confidence in him as well.”

The Chippewas host the Central Michigan Tournament this weekend, bringing in the University of Maine, Arkansas Pine-Bluff University and Valparaiso University.

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Taylor DesOrmeau is a senior at Central Michigan University, majoring in integrative public relations ...

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