Men's basketball falls in the final minute at Eastern Michigan


bball-2

Junior guard Shawn Roundtree attempts to make a basket during the game against Eureka on Nov. 18 at McGuirk Arena. 

After clawing from behind for nearly the entire second half, the Central Michigan men’s basketball team gave themselves a chance in the closing minute to steal a win from Eastern Michigan.

Instead, it was the Eagles (10-6, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) leading scorer redshirt junior Elijah Minnie stealing a inbound pass to seal the game with authority, jamming it down and giving EMU a 79-74 victory on Tuesday.

The loss would mark the first losing streak of the season for CMU (12-4, 1-2) and moved them to 1-4 on the road this season.

Davis said it came down to the final minute and they took advantage while the Chippewas didn't.

"It comes down to a play, we get an intentional foul and they go review a play that I've never seen before," Davis said. "We had the ball and suddenly they got the ball and the game was essentially over from there. 

"One call isn't the reason you lose, even though it has an affect on the game, but it's one play here and there that are the little things you look back at when you lose that got us tonight."

Summary

The game started with a couple of buckets from Minnie to help his team to a 8-6 lead.

The Eagles would continue to grow that lead with a 6-0 run capped off by a EMU junior forward James Thompson IV dunk to give the Eagles a 14-6 lead, forcing Davis to take a timeout with under 14 minutes to play in the half.

The Chippewas would answer with a run of their own, as sophomore guard Kevin McKay would steal an inbound pass and slam it home for a 10-0 run to give CMU its first lead at 16-14.

McKay scored an and-one bucket followed by a 3-pointer to hold CMU’s two point lead, 25-23, with 7:29 to play in the opening half.

The two teams would battle right up to halftime, when transfer guard Gavin Peppers made a layup at the buzzer to tie the game at 38 all heading into the locker room.

McKay lead all scorers with 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting. Senior forward Cecil Williams was right behind him with nine points while adding four rebounds and a steal.

The Chippewas shot 47.6 percent from the field but the Eagles countered by shooting 56 percent themselves. CMU turned it over 10 times but forced nine of its own.

To open the second half, the Eagles would come out soaring.

Thompson would hit back-to-back jumpers and then get a slam dunk to lead the Eagles on a 8-0 run, posting a 46-38 lead which forced Davis to call a timeout.

Transfer guard Shawn Roundtree would shake off an 0-for-7 shooting start and hit back-to-back 3-pointers for CMU’s first buckets of the second half, making the score 52-46 EMU with 11:45 to go.

Peppers would hit a triple to tie the game, but the Eagles answered back with a 5-0 run to give them a 61-56 lead with under seven minutes to play.

Williams would continue his dominate second half, getting his second and-one bucket to tie the game at 61 all with just over five minutes to play.

Minnie would finish the Chippewas off down the stretch.

The EMU forward would hit three 3-pointers in the closing minutes, pushing the Eagles out to a seven point lead that the Chippewas could never overcome.

Williams scored a season-high 23 points to lead the Chippewas in scoring. McKay had one of his better scoring nights this season with 15 points and DiLeo and Roundtree each scored 10 points.

Minnie and Thompson combined for 42 points to lead the Eagles. They shot 53.4 percent from the field and forced CMU into 15 turnovers.

CMU was outscored 46-28 in the paint, but Davis countered that statistic with the Chippewas free throw shooting.

"We scored 27 points from the free throw line which evened out how they did down low," Davis said. "When you coach the best free throw shooting team in the country, as a coach you better find a way to get them there more Other than our turnovers, I think we did a better job attacking Eastern Michigan than maybe we ever have."

The Chippewas will return to Mount Pleasant for a Saturday meeting with Toledo on Jan. 13 at 4:30 p.m. in McGurik Arena.

Game notes

  • CMU has now lost five games in a row to EMU.
  • Five of the 15 CMU turnovers came from its point guard Roundtree.
  • CMU was out-rebounded 31-28 on the night.
  • Freshman guard Matt Beachler played in the closing minutes for the Chippewas, hitting a layup to bring them within four points when the game was coming to a close. He scored five points on the night.

Share: