Keene shines in men's basketball season opener
Chippewas travel to Tennessee for first road game
Following a convincing 91-74 win in its lone exhibition game, the Central Michigan men’s basketball team opened the regular season in dominating fashion.
The Chippewas opened the 2016-17 regular season with a 117-53 win against Indiana-Kokomo Friday night at McGuirk Arena behind junior point guard Marcus Keene’s 32 points and 10 rebounds.
Keene — who sat out last season after transferring from Youngstown State — duplicated his scoring output from the win against Slippery Rock and seemed to hit from everywhere on the court. Keene shot 61 percent from the floor, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
“What we saw out of Marcus is what we see every day in practice,” said head coach Keno Davis. “A tremendously gifted player. A guy who can put points up in a hurry and a guy who wants to get better.”
The San Antonio, Texas native also added two steals and went 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
Six CMU players finished in double-figures — four of whom finished with double-doubles.
Senior guard Braylon Rayson had 17 points and 10 rebounds and was also 3-of-7 from the 3-point line.
Transfer junior forward Cecil Williams scored 16 points and pulled down 20 rebounds while freshman Kevin McKay had 11 points and 15 rebounds in his collegiate debut off of the bench.
Davis said he was happy get playing time for several of the younger players and that their play will be crucial to the team throughout the season.
“For us to be good through the year, we’re going to have to live with some growing pains,” he said. “We can’t just play our veteran players. We’re going to have to give guys some experience—not just in games that stretch out but in games which are tight.”
The Chippewas finished with 72 rebounds as a team and scored over 100 points for the first time since Jan. 2, 2015.
“This was a good confidence booster for us,” Keene said. “(IU-Kokomo) did play hard and hung with us early, but I think we really wore them down.”
The Chippewas next take on Tennessee Tech at 8:30 p.m. on Monday in Cookeville, Tennessee. The Golden Eagles lost their first game of the season at Georgia Tech 70-55.
Tennessee Tech came in fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference (19-12, 11-5 OVC) last season and finished with a 13-1 record at home. CMU conversely went 4-8 in true road games last season
