Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Northern Ill
MAC Champs!
3/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2003
2003 MAC Tournament Information
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Central Michigan University used a balanced attack on Wednesday night to defeat Northern Illinois, 73-57, in Rose Arena. The Chippewas' win, coupled with Miami's 64-56 loss to Ohio, gave the Chippewas their second Mid-American Conference championship in the past three years and their sixth all-time.
The Chippewas improve to 20-6 overall and 13-4 in MAC action with just Saturday's regular season finale at Ball State to play. NIU falls to 15-12, 11-6 overall.
Chris Kaman led CMU's trio of All-MAC candidates with a double-double of 19 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks. Senior J.R. Wallace added 19 points in his final game in Rose Arena and fellow senior Mike Manciel added 16, including a 12-for-12 performance from the line.
The Chippewas shot 42 percent from three-point range and went 19-for-21 from the line for 90.5 percent. CMU also won the battle of the boards, 30-28.
The Maroon and Gold jumped out to a 13-2 lead just over five minutes into the game but the Huskies came back and took a two point lead at 21-19 on a lay up by Marcus Smallwood with 7:26 left.
However, the Chippewas closed the half on a 15-3 run and took a 34-24 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Huskies could only trim the margin down to seven points in the second half before CMU pushed it to as many as 20 points with 2:41 left.
Three NIU players hit double figures with Todd Peterson scoring 15 on five three-pointers and Smallwood and Eugene Bates adding 12 each.
T.J. Meerman scored six points and dished out a team-high five assists in the win while Gerrit Brigitha added four points and three boards off the bench.
The Chippewas hit 20 wins in a season for the seventh time in school history.
CMU receives the No. 1 seed in the MAC tournament and will play in Cleveland's Gund Arena on Thursday, March 13, at 7 p.m. The Chippewas will face the winner of the No. 8/No. 9 matchup.
