2008 Woodie Awards
Team looking for first win against Niagara
Central coming off losses to Missouri, Central Missouri
By: Daniel Monson
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
Ernie Zeigler called Tuesday's 75-70 loss to Central Missouri a letdown.
But CMU's opening week of the season isn't over yet.
The men's basketball team can get its first win when it plays Niagara at 7 p.m. today in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
"(The losses) are definitely in the past," Zeigler said. "We're just embarking on the first quarter of our season, and we can't linger on these losses, but we have to improve game-to-game."
Niagara, which has yet to play a regular season game, beat the Chippewas 80-73 on Dec. 23, 2006 at Rose Arena. The Purple Eagles beat Florida A&M 77-69 in the play-in game of the NCAA Tournament, but lost to Kansas 107-67 in the first round.
"There's going to be a lot of excitement and energy there in terms of them raising their NCAA Tournament banner," Zeigler said. "They return (senior forward) Charron Fisher, who was the player of the year in their conference, and he absolutely did what he wanted against us last year."
Fisher scored 23 points last season in Niagara's win. He's the reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
"They're a really good team and we've got to be able to shut Fisher down," said junior forward Chris Kellermann. "He's a good driver, he's a good shooter, so shutting him down is going to be a big key in winning."
Zeigler said Central's defense still is not acceptable. The Chippewas gave up 87 points to Missouri and 75 to Central Missouri, while only forcing 10.5 turnovers per game.
"Our focus as a team has to be able to execute and stay with our defensive game plan for a particular opponent," Zeigler said. "Right now, because we have so many newcomers, we have a lot of dropoff in terms of our focus on those things."
Kellermann, who has come off the bench to average 12.5 points in the first two games, said the game is important to see where the team stands.
"We definitely want to get that first win under our belt as soon as we can," he said. "It's really important for us to get over that hump right now. We started off kind of slow. I think this is a chance to play a very good team and come into their gym and beat them - it would a be a huge momentum boost."
Zeigler said sophomore guard Jordan Bitzer will not play in Friday's game because of injury.
sports@cm-life.com
But CMU's opening week of the season isn't over yet.
The men's basketball team can get its first win when it plays Niagara at 7 p.m. today in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
"(The losses) are definitely in the past," Zeigler said. "We're just embarking on the first quarter of our season, and we can't linger on these losses, but we have to improve game-to-game."
Niagara, which has yet to play a regular season game, beat the Chippewas 80-73 on Dec. 23, 2006 at Rose Arena. The Purple Eagles beat Florida A&M 77-69 in the play-in game of the NCAA Tournament, but lost to Kansas 107-67 in the first round.
"There's going to be a lot of excitement and energy there in terms of them raising their NCAA Tournament banner," Zeigler said. "They return (senior forward) Charron Fisher, who was the player of the year in their conference, and he absolutely did what he wanted against us last year."
Fisher scored 23 points last season in Niagara's win. He's the reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
"They're a really good team and we've got to be able to shut Fisher down," said junior forward Chris Kellermann. "He's a good driver, he's a good shooter, so shutting him down is going to be a big key in winning."
Zeigler said Central's defense still is not acceptable. The Chippewas gave up 87 points to Missouri and 75 to Central Missouri, while only forcing 10.5 turnovers per game.
"Our focus as a team has to be able to execute and stay with our defensive game plan for a particular opponent," Zeigler said. "Right now, because we have so many newcomers, we have a lot of dropoff in terms of our focus on those things."
Kellermann, who has come off the bench to average 12.5 points in the first two games, said the game is important to see where the team stands.
"We definitely want to get that first win under our belt as soon as we can," he said. "It's really important for us to get over that hump right now. We started off kind of slow. I think this is a chance to play a very good team and come into their gym and beat them - it would a be a huge momentum boost."
Zeigler said sophomore guard Jordan Bitzer will not play in Friday's game because of injury.
sports@cm-life.com
Be the first to comment on this story