Early struggles plague Chippewas in first round of conference tournament at Ohio
Chippewas eliminated, will not seek postseason bid
ATHENS, Ohio – The tone was set from the first shot of the game.
In front of his home crowd, Ohio sophomore guard Jason Preston drilled an early 3-pointer to give his team the early lead. Preston grabbed an early rebounded and fired an outlet pass to freshman guard Lunden McDay, who converted the easy layup. Moments later, Ohio had a 7-0 lead over Central Michigan on a layup from Preston.
The Bobcats would never trail.
Led by the outstanding performances of both Preston and fellow sophomore Ben Vander Plas, the Bobcats routed the Chippewas 85-65, ending their season in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Monday in the Ohio Convocation Center.
The Chippewas' season ends at 14-18, their worst record since finishing 10-21 in coach Keno Davis' second year at the helm. The loss is their 10th in their last 11 games.
"Obviously not the way we wanted this season to end," Davis said. "We had higher goals and expectations with this year's team but I was really proud of them throughout the year."
Davis said the Chippewas will not play in a postseason tournament.
How it happened
The Chippewas went the first 2:31 without a bucket, CMU finally scored its first bucket on a layup by senior forward Rob Montgomery. The Bobcats would then reel off a 14-4 run to make the score 21-6 at the under-12 media timeout.
Central Michigan struggled from distance in the first half, missing its first eight 3-point attempts and making three in the entirety of the half. Junior guard Devontae Lane made two of them, keeping his team within 15 early with a pair of triples. Defensively, the Chippewas struggled to defend Vander Plas, who scored 17 points in the first half.
Vander Plas was a force inside early, shooting at a 66-percent clip in the first half and grabbing six rebounds.
"Vander Plas, with his big body so strong, he was able to back us down (and) get close to the basket," senior forward David DiLeo said.
Senior guard Kevin McKay, who was neutralized for much of the first half, came surging out of the locker room to the tune of seven points early in the second half. However, the Bobcats had an answer for every Chippewa bucket early. Preston and fellow guard Jordan Dartis each hit dagger 3-pointers to push the team's lead to 29 with 15:34 remaining.
The Chippewas did not go quietly. Led by McKay, Central Michigan rallied to the tune of a 34-15 run. cutting the lead to 10 with 2:30 to play. However, McDay and Vander Plas were able to get key buckets late to put the game out of reach.
"Most teams could've packed it in and said, 'Alright, season over,'" DiLeo said. "We gave it our all
Vander Plas was the top scorer on the night, finishing with 25 points to go along with nine boards and seven assists. Preston also notched seven assists to go along with 21 points and six rebounds.
"Those two players are as good as this conference has," Davis said. "If you talk to the coaches in this league, and you talk about those two guys, they're incredibly talented and have given other teams a lot of trouble."
The Chippewas were led by McKay, who finished with 18 points, while senior guard Dallas Morgan added 14 and Montgomery scored 10.
Monday's loss marks the final game in the careers for six Chippewas – DiLeo, McKay, Morgan, Montgomery, Michael Kemp and Corey Redman – with DiLeo finishing his career as the all-time 3-point shooter in the MAC with 337 makes from long range.
