Basketball to tip off against Alma in regular season opener


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Junior guard Rayshawn Simmons takes a shot against a Saginaw Valley State University opponent on Nov. 9 at McGuirk Arena.

Regular season college basketball returns to Mount Pleasant this weekend.

Shifting its focus to a local opponent, the Central Michigan University men’s basketball team hosts Alma College at 7 p.m. Friday.

Head Coach Keno Davis has instructed his players to not take the Scots too lightly or view them any differently than they would a Mid-American Conference opponent.

“At times, your worry might be (overconfidence) when you have a team from a lower division coming in,” Davis said. “I wouldn’t expect that from our team this early in the season.”

After defeating Saginaw Valley State University 68-61 last Sunday in an exhibition game, Davis said many issues remain to be worked out of the Chippewas’ game plan.

“We have a lot of kinks and a lot of things to work through,” he said. “I’m not expecting the first game to be a finished product (of our team). We can get a lot better as the season goes on.”

Davis is not worried about nerves, however.

“Early in the year, in the non-conference schedule, you’re going to see some nerves,” Davis said. “But also some things that we need to execute better on both sides of the ball.”

Sophomore guard Braylon Rayson said the squad is not preparing for Alma based on their profile in the greater college basketball landscape.

“We don’t look at (Alma) as a Division III opponent,” Rayson said. “We just look at them just as another basketball program.They’re college athletes, so that’s how we think of them.”

The Dallas-native was one rebound short of a double-double in 26 minutes of action in CMU’s exhibition last week.

Scoring 23 points and shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc, Rayson was the difference in CMU’s victory.

“As you can see, we’re really big this year,” he said. “That might be our advantage and their disadvantage. But, like I said, they’re college athletes too, so we don’t really look down at them like that.”

 

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