Men's basketball loses first game of season to Bradley
Twenty four points from junior guard Chris Fowler was not enough to secure a Chippewas victory Tuesday against Bradley University in the Central Michigan University men's basketball team's first road game of the season.
CMU led 14-12 early in the first half, but a 13-0 Bradley run late in the period gave the Braves the lead and eventually an 84-73 victory.
The Chippewas put together a few second-half runs of their own, pulling within two points at one point, but a Bradley 7-0 run thwarted the comeback attempt.
While Fowler only made four of his 14 field goal attempts Tuesday, he set career highs with 16 free throws made and 20 free throws attempted.
“We knew that they had a matchup problem with Chris,” said Head Coach Keno Davis. “He’s so good at driving to the basket. When they would stand out on shooters, there’s no help on Chris and he can finish.”
Fowler, meanwhile, said he was the benefactor some lenient opinions for the game's officials.
“The refs were calling it tight all night,” Fowler said. “When the refs call it that tight, I just have to do my best to get to where I’ve got to get to get fouled.”
The Chippewas were outrebounded 41-20 against Bradley. No Chippewa had more than three rebounds in the game.
“We need to become stronger, we need to become tougher,” Davis said. “We can’t just wait for our freshmen centers to get older. We need it from everybody on the court.”
Bradley's tallest player was 6-foot-9. CMU 6-11 freshman forward Luke Meyer played just 10 minutes after getting into foul trouble. He fouled out with 9:01 remaining in the game.
“I had a lot of bad foul situations,” Meyer said. “I was on the bench quite a bit due to that. I wasn’t really able to get anything going offensively or defensively. (I’m) looking forward to bouncing back.”
The Chippewas had seven players with three or more fouls in the game.
“Every time you get in foul trouble, one foul brings you right back out of the game,” Fowler said. “That’s the hardest part about being in foul trouble and that’s something Luke will learn.”
Freshman DaRohn Scott pulled the Chippewas within two, down 43-41. He was given a technical foul after the dunk, giving the Braves two free throw attempts and the ball.
Davis said the physical play will help prepare the Chippewas for Mid-American Conference play.
“I’m excited how today’s game will prepare us for MAC play because there’s nobody in our conference that’s going to be more physical than they are,” Davis said. “We have some teams that’ll be comparable and hopefully we’re better prepared for the next time we meet someone like Bradley.”
Warren Jones led Bradley with 33 points.
The Chippewas will play at 1 p.m. Saturday against SIU Edwardsville at McGuirk Arena.
