Men’s basketball takes MAC lead with win at Eastern Michigan
Junior guard Chris Fowler is double-teamed with the ball Tuesday at Eastern Michigan. He would score three points and have seven assists in the 72-56 win.
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The Central Michigan University men's basketball team approached the tip-off Tuesday at Eastern Michigan University already trailing 2-0. But the pregame technical foul for dunking did not make a difference for the Chippewas, who defeated the Eagles 72-56 Tuesday at the Convocation Center.
The Eagles (18-10, 7-8 MAC) had the momentum, leading the game 5-0 and then 11-6 early. The Chippewas (21-5, 11-4 MAC) missed their first eight 3-point attempts.
With 11:02 remaining in the first half, a 3-pointer from CMU sophomore Braylon Rayson broke the Chippewas' drought, kicked off the sharp shooting and gave CMU a lead it never relinquished.
“A big positive was our guards finding Rayshawn Simmons at the high post and him making so many great passes out to the perimeter,” said Head Coach Keno Davis. “(We were able to) get the ball into the paint and kick it back out to have even better looks.”
Simmons dished out 10 assists Tuesday. The Chippewas made 16-of-29 following the opening drought, including a 60 percent shooting percentage from the 3-point line in the second half.
Junior forward John Simons made 7-of-11 3-pointers and scored a season-high 23 points while redshirt freshman guard Josh Kozinski made six of his 12 shots from beyond the arc, scoring 18 points.
“When both of us get hot, we just keep on cheering each other on, telling each other to keep shooting,” Kozinski said. “I think John and I traded a couple back-and-forth where his man jumped to me and (John) was able to get a shot off. It really opens things up for both of us.”
Simons had seven rebounds for the Chippewas, one shy of junior guard Austin Stewart’s eight boards. CMU outrebounded EMU 35-28 and pulled down 14 offensive rebounds.
Davis said the Chippewas attempted to use the pregame technical foul as motivation.
“I’ve been coaching for 20 years and I’ve never had it called,” Davis said. “But it’s a rule. It’s not my job to complain that it was called. It’s my job to say, ‘Ok, let’s learn from that.’ That’s not going to happen again. We tried to use it as a rallying point.”
Tuesday's win was the sixth victory in a row for the Chippewas, who now have the best record in the Mid-American Conference after Kent State University lost Tuesday and University of Toledo had its game postponed until Wednesday due to a water main break on campus.
CMU travels to Northern Illinois University at 8 p.m. on Saturday before finishing the season against Toledo and Western Michigan.
