DiLeo delivers off bench, Keene stays hot as men's basketball defeats Tennessee Tech
When junior forward Luke Meyer picked up his fourth foul two minutes into the second half, head coach Keno Davis turned to freshman David DiLeo to pick up the slack for the Central Michigan men’s basketball team.
The 6-foot-7 Iowa native stepped up in just his second career game, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He added four steals and a late charge that sealed CMU’s (2-0) 86-74 win Monday night at Tennessee Tech (0-2).
“I told the team after (the game) that it’s going to be a different guy ever night,” Davis said. “We have 10 guys that can put up big numbers on a given night, but they have to improve to be able to do that. It’s good to see David come up and have that kind of night.”
Junior point guard Marcus Keene continued his strong start to the season with his third consecutive 30-point game. The transfer from Youngstown State went 10-of-19 from the field. Keene is currently fourth in the NCAA in points per game.
The Golden Eagles were unable to stay in front of the 5-foot-9 San Antonio native for most of the second half. With defenders crashing to guard him, Keene was able to find open teammates on the perimeter. He finished with six assists.
Trailing by four with 13 minutes left, senior Braylon Rayson hit a 3-pointer which started a 9-0 run for Central Michigan. It ultimately led to a 20-7 run which put the game out of reach.
Rayson finished with 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting.
“(Keene and Rayson) have as much liberty to be able to score on our team as they would anywhere and that’s part of the reason they chose to come here,” Davis said. “I know it’s exciting for our fans and it’s exciting for me as a coach.”
Junior forward Cecil Williams added 12 points and four rebounds. Senior guard Josh Kozinski struggled shooting 1-of-9 from 3-point range and 2-of-10 overall.
Aleska Jugovic led Tennessee Tech with 25 points.
CMU handed TTU only its second home loss since last year. The Golden Eagles were 14-1 at home a season ago while the Chippewas finished 4-8 on the road.
“With a young group you expect them to have more mental lapses than we did tonight, but credit our guys for coming out and doing what they did tonight,” Davis said. "To play the way we play, you have to not feel the pressure."
What’s Next
The Chippewas head back to Mount Pleasant on Thursday to play Marygrove at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Arena.
