2008 Woodie Awards
Men's basketball escapes Rose Arena with 63-58 win against Ball State
Van scores 18, Watson sets school record for career assists
By: Daniel Monson
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Sports
Marcus Van scored a career-high18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to give CMU confidence early in its 63-58 win Wednesday against Ball State at Rose Arena.
Van used his height advantage to shoot multiple mid-range jumpers in the post against the smaller Cardinals.
"I knew he couldn't block my shot," Van said "And coach is always telling me for the past couple of practices that I'd be able to shoot right over the top of them. It was just wide open for me today."
Sophomore guard Jordan Bitzer made two 3-pointers in the first minute of the game and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Senior guard Giordan Watson did not start, but set the CMU career-assists record on a pass to sophomore guard Robbie Harman for a 3-pointer.
Watson came off the bench after shooting just 3-of-14 from the field in CMU's loss to Eastern Michigan Saturday. He finished Wednesday's game 1-of-6 for 6 points and dished six assists.
"The biggest reason for not starting him is to really get his attention on what we need him to do defensively, irregardless if he continues to struggle offensively," Zeigler said. "He showed the mental toughness that we've been talking about that I thought had been lacking down the stretch when his offense wasn't there."
BSU (5-20 overall, 4-9 Mid-American Conference) never led, but cut CMU's lead to two with 1 minute, 28 seconds remaining.
But Central made six of its last seven free throw attempts to split the season series.
The game was noticeably different in point total from BSU's 82-71 win in Muncie, Ind., on Jan. 13.
"It wasn't really unlike the last game," said BSU coach Billy Taylor. "Van really got into a rhythm early on and unfortunately we had some foul trouble so we had to go deeper into our bench. Van was able to get some good looks."
Central (11-14, 6-7 MAC) takes a one-game hiatus from conference play when it travels to Springfield, Mo., on Saturday to play Missouri State.
"This is a game we needed to win tonight," Bitzer said. "Hopefully we can take this momentum and not get complacent, come out at Missouri State and get a non-conference win."
sports@cm-life.com
Van used his height advantage to shoot multiple mid-range jumpers in the post against the smaller Cardinals.
"I knew he couldn't block my shot," Van said "And coach is always telling me for the past couple of practices that I'd be able to shoot right over the top of them. It was just wide open for me today."
Sophomore guard Jordan Bitzer made two 3-pointers in the first minute of the game and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Senior guard Giordan Watson did not start, but set the CMU career-assists record on a pass to sophomore guard Robbie Harman for a 3-pointer.
Watson came off the bench after shooting just 3-of-14 from the field in CMU's loss to Eastern Michigan Saturday. He finished Wednesday's game 1-of-6 for 6 points and dished six assists.
"The biggest reason for not starting him is to really get his attention on what we need him to do defensively, irregardless if he continues to struggle offensively," Zeigler said. "He showed the mental toughness that we've been talking about that I thought had been lacking down the stretch when his offense wasn't there."
BSU (5-20 overall, 4-9 Mid-American Conference) never led, but cut CMU's lead to two with 1 minute, 28 seconds remaining.
But Central made six of its last seven free throw attempts to split the season series.
The game was noticeably different in point total from BSU's 82-71 win in Muncie, Ind., on Jan. 13.
"It wasn't really unlike the last game," said BSU coach Billy Taylor. "Van really got into a rhythm early on and unfortunately we had some foul trouble so we had to go deeper into our bench. Van was able to get some good looks."
Central (11-14, 6-7 MAC) takes a one-game hiatus from conference play when it travels to Springfield, Mo., on Saturday to play Missouri State.
"This is a game we needed to win tonight," Bitzer said. "Hopefully we can take this momentum and not get complacent, come out at Missouri State and get a non-conference win."
sports@cm-life.com
Be the first to comment on this story