Men's basketball falls at Toledo to earn fifth-straight loss
Different night, similar story for the Central Michigan men’s basketball team.
The Chippewas once again went down by double-digits in the first half and were unable to rally on their way to a 87-66 defeat at the hands of the Toledo Rockets Friday night at Savage Arena.
The Rockets (15-14, 8-8 Mid-American Conference) handed CMU (16-13, 6-10) its fifth-straight loss after winning six out of its previous eight games.
Tale of Two Halves
Junior Marcus Keene had his first scoreless half of the season. The nation’s leading scorer went 0-for-3 in the first half and had three fouls and five turnovers. Without Keene’s impact, the Chippewas trailed 40-20 at the break.
The 5-foot-9 guard responded in the second half with a game-high 27 points and got his team to within 12 points twice, but CMU could never get the deficit to single-digits. Keene finished the night shooting 11-of-22 from the floor including 3-of-7 on 3-pointers. He added five assists.
The San Antonio, Texas native is 14 points away from breaking the MAC single-season scoring record.
“Going down 20 isn’t a great recipe and I felt like we came out with energy in the second half and kept cutting into that lead, but it’s tough to cut into 20 on the road,” said head coach Keno Davis.
Junior Cecil Williams continued his strong play with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The Columbia, Missouri native has been the team’s second-highest scorer in back-to-back games after struggling offensively for most of the season.
Senior Braylon Rayson was once again held in check as the Dallas, Texas native only had 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Rayson’s streak of at least 20 points ended Tuesday
The Central Michigan bench was a complete non-factor shooting a combined 0-of-7 and adding only one point. Freshman David DiLeo was 0-of-6 from the 3-point line and junior DRohn Scott didn’t even attempt a shot all night.
Stuffing the stat Sheet
All five of Toledo’s starters scored in double-figures. Jonathon Williams scored a team-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting and Jordan Lauf pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. Steve Taylor Jr. added 15 points and 10 rebounds to log the double-double.
The Rockets shot 55 percent from the field and 33 percent on 3-pointers, while the Chippewas struggled mightily from the field shooting 42 percent and 27 percent beyond the arc. UT out-rebounded CMU 43-29 and had 10 offensive rebounds.
Toledo also has 22 points off turnovers and 12 second-chance points.
“That’s the game right there,” Davis said. “That’s what we lose by. We turned it over for the lay ups and for the open shots and they got the offensive rebounds. We talked about extra possessions in this game — they did it.”
What’s Next
The Chippewas host Eastern Michigan on Tuesday for senior night at McGuirk Arena. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
