Men's basketball falls to Toledo, squanders chance to claim top spot in MAC West
With the win, Toledo improves to 23-6 overall and 11-5 in the conference and clinches the MAC West division title. Meanwhile, CMU drops to 20-9 and 9-7.
When Central Michigan’s starting lineup took the floor against Toledo in men’s basketball, junior forward Rob Montgomery did not take his customary position at center court to jump for the opening tip.
Instead, he was sitting on the bench, a bag of ice strapped to his upper left leg. Montgomery injured his groin during pre-game warmups.
“I didn’t know anything until the 12-minute mark (of warmups),” Davis said. "Hopefully it isn't anything long term and we can get him back sooner than later.”
Without their best interior defender, the Chippewas (20-9, 9-7 Mid-American Conference) were overwhelmed by the Rockets (23-6, 11-5 MAC) and fell by a score of 80-68.
Toledo came out of the gates hot and left CMU scrambling to keep up.
Senior guard Shawn Roundtree Jr. put the team on his back on the offensive end, scoring eight of the Chippewas’ first ten points.
However, CMU couldn’t get a stop. The Chippewas trailed, 23-10, when they called their second timeout with 8:45 to play in the first half.
The Chippewas made a quick run by scoring two transition baskets, the second of which came off a steal by senior guard Larry Austin, Jr. to make it 23-14 in the Rockets’ favor.
Toledo then reclaimed control of the game, and its lead swelled to as many as 16.
At halftime, CMU trailed, 36-24. The team shot 1-of-10 from beyond the arc and was blocked seven times in the first half.
CMU found its rhythm in the opening minutes of the second half. Roundtree and junior guard Dallas Morgan knocked down two triples apiece in a span of five minutes.
Toledo did a solid job of taking the blows and maintained an 11-point lead.
That’s when the Chippewas made their push.
CMU went on a 10-0 run that cut the Chippewas’ deficit to 48-47 with 12:51 to play, highlighted by an acrobatic transition layup by Austin and a second-chance jumper by Morgan that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The Rockets were unwilling to relinquish their lead. They gradually stretched the score to a 68-59 advantage with 4:17 remaining.
The air went out of the building when Toledo senior guard Jaelan Sanford hit a 3-pointer from the Flying C logo, pushing the lead to 12 with just over four minutes to play.
“That three was a dagger,” Austin said.
From that point forward, the Rockets soundly put the Chippewas away to win, 80-68.
On Senior Night, Roundtree and Austin led the team in points. Roundtree amassed 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, while Austin had 20 on the afternoon, 14 of which came in the second half. Morgan added 13 points for the Chippewas.
For the Rockets, Sanford and senior center Luke Knapke had 19 points apiece, and sophomore guard Marreon Jackson tallied 18 more.
With the win, Toledo improves to 23-6 overall and 11-5 in the conference and clinches the MAC West Division title. Meanwhile, CMU drops to 20-9 and 9-7.
The Chippewas have two game remaining in the regular season, the first of which being a home game against Northern Illinois (13-16, 6-10) at 6 p.m. on Mar. 5 in McGuirk Arena.
In order for CMU to pull out a first round bye in the MAC Tournament, it is essential that the Chippewas win their matchup against the Huskies.
“We have to turn the page and be ready for Tuesday,” Austin said. “They played us tough at their house, and they’re gonna want to come in and beat us here.”
