Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Marshall
Marshall Downs Men's Basketball In MAC Tourney
3/5/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2000
CLEVELAND, OH -- The Central Michigan men's basketball team's (6-23 overall) season came to an end with a heartbreaking 58-56 loss to Marshall in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament on Sunday at Gund Arena.
The Chippewas took a 56-55 lead when Chad Pleiness hit a jumper with 3:59 to play. Marshall's J.R. VanHoose went to the line for a pair of free throws at the 3:24 mark. He hit the first one to tie the score at 56-56 but missed the second one.
The score stayed tied until Marshall's Travis Young hit a bucket with just 33 seconds left to give the Thundering Herd a 58-56 lead. The Chippewas got off three shots in the final seconds but couldn't connect.
The Chippewas had kept it close the entire second half. The biggest Marshall lead was 41-32 early in the second stanza before the Chippewas went on a 7-0 run to slice the lead to 41-39. David Webber tied it at 51-51 with 6:46 to play while Tim Kisner gave CMU its first lead of the second half (54-53) with a three-pointer at the 4:27 mark.
The first half showed what was to come in the latter stages of the game. Marshall led most of the way until Jon Borovich hit a bucket to give CMU its first lead (26-25) at the 5:35 mark. Marshall outscored the Chippewas, 10-4, at the end of the half to go into the lockerroom with a 37-32 advantage.
David Webber led the Chippewas with 21 points while Pleiness added 18. Tim Kisner had a game-high nine rebounds and added eight points and five assists.
Tamar Slay and J.R. VanHoose led Marshall with 18 points each.
