Men’s basketball falls to Toledo, loses third straight
Junior guard Gavin Peppers dribbles the basketball during the basketball game against Toledo on Jan. 13 at McGuirk Arena.
In a game which Toledo shot 43.8 percent from 3-point range, the Central Michigan men’s basketball team never backed down.
However, the Chippewas (12-5, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) came up short against the Rockets (11-6, 3-1) on Jan. 13 at McGuirk Arena, losing 93-82. The loss snapped CMU’s unbeaten record at home this season.
“The numbers (Toledo) is able to put up offensively are really good,” CMU head coach Keno Davis said. “Not only from the regular field but from the 3-point line. They are going to be a dangerous team throughout the year.”
The first half was everything but easy for the Chippewas, as the team went down 11-2 to start the game against Toledo.
“The way they started making just about everything they shot obviously put us in a hole,” Davis said. “We had enough to battle back, but not enough to make that next step.”
Senior forward Luke Meyer started the first half comeback for CMU, bagging a 3-pointer at the top of the key, cutting Toledo’s edge to seven points, 28-21, with 9:47 left in the first half.
Toledo’s lead was chopped to four points, its smallest since the opening minutes, on a tip-in from sophomore guard Kevin McKay with 2:59 left in the first half. The De La Salle High School native flew into the lane on a miss by sophomore forward David DiLeo, grabbed the ball in mid-air and scored.
Toledo’s first half success came entirely from the 3-point line. The Rockets shot 9-for-18 from downtown, helping give the team a 45-39 lead at the break.
In the first half, the Rockets were fueled by senior guard Tre’Shaun Fletcher, who logged 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. He went into the halftime lock room shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
Meyer opened the second half for Central Michigan with a layup, easing the CMU deficit to four points.
Moments later, the Chippewas trimmed Toledo’s edge to one-point on a floater by junior guard Shawn Roundtree with 15:03 left in the game.
Roundtree, a transfer from Mineral Area College, scored a career-high 29 points in CMU’s loss. He added five rebounds and two assists. McKay also managed to fill the stat sheet, pouring in 14 points and seven rebounds.
“I was just trying to win at the end of the day,” Roundtree said. “I needed to make plays and today I felt confident. That’s something I need to continue doing.”
With 11:49 left in the game, Toledo started to pull away once again on a 3-pointer off the hand of junior guard Jaelan Sanford, giving the team a 68-57 edge.
CMU’s deficit dropped down to five points, 76-71, on a 3-pointer by DiLeo with 5:39 left in the game, but it was not enough to help bring the Chippewas all the way back.
In the end, CMU was not able to match the high-powered offense from Toledo, which finished 27-for-57 from the field and 14-for-32 from 3-point range en route to a 93-82 win at McGuirk Arena.
“We struggled to get out on the shooters,” McKay said. “We knew who their shooters were, but we struggled to communicate like we usually do, so they were getting easy shots. There’s a lot of things we need to work on.”
Toledo was led by Fletcher and Sanford, who scored 22 and 21 points, respectively. Fletcher also tossed in six rebounds and four assists. Junior forward Nate Navigato scored 18 points, of which all were from downtown.
CMU will head on the road to play Ball State at 7 p.m. on Ja. 16 at Worthen Arena. The Cardinals are 11-6 on the season and 2-2 in MAC play.
“We’d rather be 3-1 (in the MAC), but that wouldn’t mean we are any better of a team,” Davis said. “We knew that we’d have to continue to improve in what we do. I don’t feel like we are that far away. More importantly (than winning), we need to improve as a team.”
