Central Michigan 75, Toledo 66: Men's basketball headed to MAC Championship Game with defeat of Toledo
Cleveland-- For the first time since 2003, the Central Michigan University men's basketball team is headed to the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship Game.
CMU defeated the University of Toledo 75-66 in the tournament semifinals on Friday night, thanks in part to a team-high 26 points from junior point guard Chris Fowler.
The Chippewas will face the winner of Akron University and the University at Buffalo at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
“This team has come so far this season,” said Head Coach Keno Davis. “You’re looking at a team that just won three conference games last year. The character of our team has stood out the entire season.”
Fowler dished out five assists and grabbed five rebounds in CMU's third win of the season over UT. Junior forward John Simons finished with 23 points and tied for the team lead in rebounds with six.
“(Winning the MAC Tournament) is something we’ve been working for all year,” Simons said. "So we are one step closer to some of our end of the year goals. We are happy where we are at but we are not satisfied with where we are at.”
Sophomore guard Braylon Rayson chipped in 14 points for CMU. His and-one layup pushed CMU's first-half lead to 10 points and helped the Chippewas maintain control of the game heading into the halftime break.
UT's first basket was an emphatic dunk by senior forward J.D. Weatherspoon, who CMU held to 17 points.
Fowler started the game for CMU's offense with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. He and the Chippewas were playing on a full week's rest following last week's regular season finale at Western Michigan University.
“(Toledo) played last night,” Fowler said. “We just wanted to stick to the way we play. We play an up-tempo game. If you can’t go deep into your bench it’s going to hurt you. (Toledo) didn't go deep into their bench tonight.”
Fowler scored 14 of his 26 points in the first half and was a big reason the Chippewas held the lead for the majority of the contest.
“(Fowler) backs up everything that he says with his actions,” Davis said. “Our guys have faith in him. I have faith in him as a coach to be able to have the ball in his hands.”
UT senior guard Julius Brown, a First Team All-MAC selection, scored just two points with committed three turnovers in the first half. He finished with nine points.
The Rockets began to heat up at the 15:46 mark going on a 10-3 run over a nearly five-minute span.
“I don't think Toledo was tired,” Fowler said. “We are young kids. We could play all day, we’re used to playing all day. We were fortunate to get enough stops and scores to win the game.”
