CMU men's basketball falls to Eastern Michigan
Senior guard Brian Taylor shoots a layup during a game against Alma on Saturday, Dec. 3 in McGuirk Arena.
Sprinting down the court, Central Michigan basketball's freshman guard Reggie Bass passed the ball to the hands of junior forward Carrington McCaskill. McCaskill jumped up from the paint dunking the ball to give the Chippewas a 10-point lead with 2:05 left in the first half.
Despite leading 30-18 at the half, the Chippewas struggled to keep their lead in the second half as they fell to Eastern Michigan 62-56 on Saturday.
The Chippewas move to 6-8 on the season and the Eagles are now 4-11. Both teams are 1-1 in the Mid-American Conference.
CMU was still without sophomore guard Kevin Miller and freshman guard Emil Skytta due to injuries. Junior guard Jesse Zarzuela was also absent from the Chippewas lineup with an undisclosed injury.
“There was some good things in the first half," said head coach Tony Barbee. “But obviously you know, we're missing probably almost 60 points out of our lineup... so, we're offensively challenged. We couldn't get into a rhythm.”
The Chippewas jumped out to an early lead after EMU opened with a three-pointer. CMU took advantage of the Eagles going cold under the basket as the Chippewas went on a 12-0 run to take a 12-3 lead just three minutes into the game.
CMU continued to take control going into the half with a 30-18 lead over the Eagles.
Coming out of the locker room the Eagles turned the tables going on an early 8-0 run while CMU struggled under the basket. EMU cut the Chippewas' lead to five with a score of 34-29 with 15:05 left in the game.
Fouled on the layup and sent the free-throw line, sophomore Markus Harding completed the three-point play sparking momentum for the Chippewas. Harding led CMU with 15 points and seven rebounds.
During the small spark, the Chippewas went up eight points after freshman guard Max Majerle stepped back with a three pointer.
With a 40-32 lead, CMU once again grew cold under the basket. The Eagles made it anyone's game going on an 8-3 run to put them with in three with 9:41. Another three-pointer from Majerle made it a two-possession game to put the Chippewas up by six.
As CMU struggled to capitalize on rebounds, the Eagles took advantage as a dunk from EMU sophomore forward Emoni Bates tied the game at 50 with 5:45 left in the game.
“This is the first game this season where we had more than 36 rebounds that we lost,” Barbee said. “That was a big goal of ours and usually when we get a minimum of 36 rebounds is because we were playing hard and tough and physical, and we bullied the team which, I thought we did on the backboard. It's just we weren't able to do that on the offensive end of the floor.”
The Chippewas would quickly recover and gain the two-point lead with a layup from Bass, but the Eagles were right behind their tails scoring four straight points to take the 54-52 lead.
A pair of free throws from CMU freshman froward Ola Ajiboye tied the game back at 54.
The Chippewas were unable to keep the Eagles off the board as they went on a 6-0 run to take their first lead since the first two minutes of the game with a score of 61-54. With 26 seconds left in the game the Chippewas were too far behind as they fell to the Eagles 62-56.
CMU senior guard Brian Taylor recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Bass had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.
CMU will head to Dekalb to take on the Northern Illinios Huskies on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
