CMU men's basketball suffers first loss of season
Coming out of halftime, Central Michigan men's basketball trailed Bradley 35-25 looking to rediscover an offense that struggled in the first half.
CMU came out of the break, going on a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to six, but that is as close as it got for the rest of the game as Bradley pulled away in what became a dominant win for the Braves.
The 85-54 loss puts CMU at 1-1 on the season.
The game started with Bradley jumping out to an early lead, going on a 19-6 run in the first seven minutes as the Chippewas struggled offensively.
CMU battled back, closing the gap to a nine point game as Keenan Garner scored to make the game 32-23 in favor of the Braves.
The half closed with Bradley holding a comfortable 35-25 lead, but not before the squad from Mount Pleasant seemed to find its defensive footing, holding Bradley to nine points in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
The Chippewas came out of half with renewed vigor on offense, cutting the deficit to six in the first two minutes of the new half.
CMU continued to keep it within 10 for the first six minutes of the second half, but that is when Bradley point guard Jaquan Johnson took over, going on an 8-0 run by himself to keep CMU from making the game too close. Johnson continued to dominate in the second half, finishing with 33 points, six rebounds and three assists.
From that point, Bradley was able to keep CMU in check with good defense as Bradley went on a 20-5 run going into the final eight minutes of the game.
The game was never again in doubt as the Braves closed the game out 85-54.
Bradley dominated the pace of the game scoring 10 points off of fast breaks in the first half to Central Michigan's two.
Garner led the Maroon and Gold in scoring with 12 points, shooting 5-8 from the field, while also leading the team in rebounds with 8.
The squad struggled from beyond the arc, going 2-13 with guard Jaxson Whitaker hitting the teams only two.
Central Michigan men's basketball is back on the road for the Showdown in St. Pete tournament, where the squads will face South Alabama on Thursday at 11 a.m.
