Men's basketball rallies in second half, but falls to Akron 89-85
Chippewas fall to 0-3 in MAC
Coming in on a two-game losing streak and win-less in Mid-American Conference play, the Central Michigan men’s basketball team returned to McGuirk Arena on Tuesday looking to gain some confidence and get back in contention.
The only problem: CMU had to face the top-ranked team in the MAC in the Akron Zips.
Central Michigan (10-6, 0-3) battled back from a 10-point deficit late in the second-half, but the Zips (13-3, 3-0) size advantage was too much down the stretch in an 89-85 defeat.
“There’s no doubt in my mind (Akron) is deserving of their preseason recognition of being the best team in the league,” head coach Keno Davis said. “It was good for us to be competitive against them and it was good for us to talk about where we need to get this year. We know the beginning of the conference schedule has been hard for us, but we know you have to play all of those games some time.”
Early Energy
The Chippewas came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. The team shot 67 percent the first six minutes of play, behind senior Braylon Rayson’s early 13 points.
Rayson finished with 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
CMU played engaged on the defensive end as well and consistently rotated and helped one another.
That is, until Akron was able to get their big man the ball.
Too Much Size
Akron center Isaiah Johnson flipped the momentum of the game and dominated inside. The 6-foot-10, 290 pound senior bullied Luke Meyer in the post and finished with 33 points on 11-for-19 shooting and added 9 rebounds.
“Nobody else in the league has Isaiah Johnson,” Davis said. “Their other players are really talented too, but when you have a guy that you can center your entire offense around and go to every possession, we didn’t have an answer for that.”
After the Chippewas were forced to double team Johnson, Zips’ forward Kwan Cheatham started getting open looks and went on a 10-0 run by himself. He finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
After trailing 38-27 with six minutes left before the break, Akron finished the first half on a 22-5 run to take a 49-41 lead into halftime.
Junior Marcus Keene had a slow start, but rallied the Chippewas in the second half. The 5-foot-9 point guard had 22 points after the break and got his team the lead with three minutes remaining.
Keene tied Johnson with 33 points on 12-of-25 from the field and added 7 assists.
CMU forward DaRohn Scott did his best to contain Johnson on the other end, but fouled out late in the game. Johnson took full advantage of Meyer — who was also in foul trouble — to re-gain the lead and put the game away.
“They played their hearts out there is just nothing they could do,” Rayson said. “I mean, someone’s got 100 pounds on you, it’s difficult. They did all they can do down there.”
What’s Next
CMU will have to wait till Friday to get another chance at its first conference victory when they take on the Toledo Rockets at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Arena.
