Central Michigan claws its way to first place, grinding out win over Ball State


kevin-mckay
Senior guard Kevin McKay makes a layup against Ball State Jan. 25 at McGuirk Arena

Junior guard Devontae Lane secured a steal and headed toward the basket. 

He was pressured by a Ball State defender and flung a layup that was off the mark. The ball bounced toward the baseline and was brought in by Dallas Morgan. The senior guard sprinted to the corner, in front of the Chippewa bench, and launched a 3-pointer. 

Nothing but net. 

The 3-pointer was his third of the game and put his team up 66-58 with 2:26 to play. On its ensuing possession, Ball State turned the ball over. The turnover sent the crowd at McGuirk Arena into a frenzy, and another Morgan jumper moments later sealed the Cardinals' fate. 

"I knew late in the game things would open up for me," Morgan said. "(It's about) taking advantage of the opportunity that we're given."

Central Michigan used stout defense and aggressive offense to take down Ball State and move into first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division. The Chippewas defeated the Cardinals, 71-66, Saturday at McGuirk Arena. 

The Cardinals jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held the Chippewas without a basket for the first 3:59 of the contest. Senior forward David DiLeo scored the first of his 14 points with a jumper to put the Chippewas on the board. 

A 3-pointer from Lane put the Chippewas in front 19-17 halfway through the first half. After trailing 7-0 early, the Chippewas would never trail again. They took a 33-27 advantage into the locker room, led by Morgan's 10 points in the first half. 

Despite the lead never changing hands in the second half, the two teams battled relentlessly. The Cardinals twice cut the lead to one point, but each time the Chippewas got a clutch bucket to stay in front. 

Both DiLeo and Rob Montgomery played the final 7:31 with four fouls but were able avoid a fifth foul and stay on the floor, avoiding a fifth. 

DiLeo hit his 300th-career 3-pointer to extend the Chippewa lead to 59-53. He now sits just six triples short of Josh Kozinski's school record for 3-point field goal makes. Kozinski made 306 triples during his time at Central Michigan. 

"It feels great," DiLeo said. "My entire life, I've been working hard on my shot. To be able to come in and make so many in my career, it feels good."

The Cardinals were able to rally to cut the lead to three, but Morgan took over late and pushed the Chippewas to victory. 

Morgan scored a game-high 21 points, DiLeo added 14 and senior guard Kevin McKay scored 13 in his return from injury. McKay missed the last three contests due to an undisclosed injury and played nearly 30 minutes in his return. 

"He wanted to make sure that he didn't rush coming back," Davis said of McKay. "But when he came back he wanted to not be limited. He wanted to make sure that he was right."

Ball State was led by forward Tahjai Teague, who scored 17 points and pulled down a game high 18 rebounds. Luke Bumbalough scored 13 and Jarron Coleman added 12 for the Cardinals. 

Central Michigan forced 28 Cardinal turnovers turnovers, but was outrebounded, 42-31. Despite the disadvantage on the glass, the Chippewas were able to put up 14 more shots than Ball State. 

That said, Davis said he was happy with his team's effort defensively. 

"(There's) a lot of different things that we can be good at on any given night," Davis said. "It's always, for a coach, more enjoyable when you do it on the half court defensive end."

The Chippewas next take the court when they face Miami (Ohio) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio. Central Michigan won the first meeting of the season, 93-82, on Jan. 4 in McGuirk Arena. 

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