Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Northern Ill
Worst To First: Men's Basketball Crowned MAC Champs
3/3/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 3, 2001
MOUNT PLEASANT--Central Michigan put the finishing touches on a championship season with a 71-62 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Rose Arena.
With the victory, the Chippewas captured sole possession of the Mid-American Conference championship by virtue of Akron's 76-68 win over Kent State.
Seconds after the win the floor was filled with jubiliant fans who watched the Chippewas cut down the nets.
The title is the fifth in school history and the first since 1987. CMU's other titles came in 1975, 1977 and 1979.
The win helped CMU accomplish a feat that no other MAC team has done -- to go from worst to first in one season. Central finished 13th in the conference last year with a 2-16 slate.
From the opening tip it was apparent that Northern Illinois wasn't going to step aside and let the Chippewas cruise to the title.
The game was tight throughout the opening minutes of the second half with neither team leading by more than four points.
Chad Pleiness had a dunk that gave the Chippewas a 44-43 lead with 13:19 left to play.
Northern Illinois would come within a point three times before the Chippewas went on a key 11-4 run to grab a commanding 64-54 lead with 3:08 to play.
The Huskies stayed in the game with back-to-back three-pointers by Mike Brown and a layup by Stephen Jones to cut the CMU lead to 65-62 at the 1:43 mark.
Chris Kaman's score put CMU back up by five (67-62) and forced the Huskies to foul.
Pleiness and David Webber both nailed a pair of free throws to seal the win.
The first stanza was back-and-forth with five ties and 10 lead changes.
Central held a 16-12 lead at the halfway point but the Huskies made a charge late in the half to take a 25-20 lead with 3:19 to play.
CMU came back to tie it up at 27-27 but NIU hit a bucket at the buzzer to go into the half with a 29-27 lead.
The Chippewas were led by the duo of Pleiness and Webber who each scored 19.
Pleiness shot 8-of-12 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. He also had a team-best nine rebounds.
Webber shot 5-of-10 from the field, 3-of-7 from the three-point line and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe.
Tim Kisner turned in a strong performance with eight points and a career-best 13 assists.
Mike Manciel added 13 points.
NIU was led by Leon Rodgers with 16 points and Mike Brown with 15.
CMU gets a first-round bye in the MAC tournament that starts Monday with campus site games.
The Chippewas (20-7, 14-4 MAC) advances to the quarterfinals where they will face the winner of the Miami-Akron matchup on Thursday at noon at Cleveland's Gund Arena.
The semifnals are set for Friday and the championship game Saturday.
