MAC West Leading-Huskies Narrowly Top CMU, 49-43

Thursday, January 26

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7:00 PM

Central Michigan University

Northern Illinois

1/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Jan. 26, 2006

Box Score

MOUNT PLEASANT - Todd Peterson's three-pointer with 54 seconds left sparked Northern Illinois to a 49-43 victory over host Central Michigan University on Thursday night in Rose Arena.

The Chippewas held a 41-39 lead when Sefton Barrett got a put-back to drop with 5:05 remaining for his only points of the game. But, the Huskies then rattled off eight straight points after that with Peterson's trey giving NIU a two-possession cushion at 45-41.

CMU had opportunities to get back in it as Northern went 4-for-8 from the line in the final minute. But, the Chippewas turned it over on back-to-back possessions late and were forced to foul.

"I thought we took care of the ball in the second half but unfortunately we had two turnovers at the end that really cost us," CMU coach Jay Smith said. "We played hard and got good looks, we just didn't knock them down. Defensively, we held NIU to 49 points with having to foul at the end.

"We got down to the last four minutes of the game again, but we don't know how to win those yet. Our young players have to figure it out."

The Mid-American Conference West Division-leading Huskies improved to 10-7 overall, 5-4 in the MAC, while CMU fell to 3-14, 1-8 in league play.

CMU started the game sluggish with 12 first-half turnovers and 33 percent shooting. The Chippewas trailed by 11 points, 23-12, with 4:09 left in the opening half before closing on a 10-2 run to cut NIU's lead down to two at the break, 25-22.

The home team knotted the game at 29s with 13:36 left and it took their first lead of the contest on an Eddie Spencer three-pointer that made it 32-30. There were four ties after that before Barrett gave CMU its last lead of the game.

Spencer led the Chippewas with 12 points, Giordan Watson tallied 11 and Justin Blevins a season-high 10. Blevins was one rebound shy of a double-double with a career-high nine boards.

Two NIU players hit twin figures with James Hughes posting 12 and Mike McKinney 11.

Neither team had a great shooting night as NIU made 35 percent of its field goals compared to CMU's 33 percent.

The Huskies won the battle of the boards, 38-35, with CMU's Chris Kellermann pulling down a game and career-high 11 caroms.

CMU now turns its attention to rival Western Michigan for a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. The game will be televised throughout Michigan on Comcast Local.

NOTES:

The Huskies more than doubled CMU's free throw attempts as NIU was 12-for-24 (.500) while CMU was 8-for-11 (.727).
The Chippewas had 12 turnovers in the first half but cut that number down to just five in the second. Unfortuantely, three of them ended up coming in the final two minutes with the game on the line.
Sefton Barrett entered the game as CMU's leading scorer but he was held to a season-low two points.
The three front line starters for CMU shot a combined 7-for-26 (.269) from the floor.
Freshman Aaron Richie saw his string of five straight games with a three-pointer come to an end.
Chris Kellermann and Justin Blevins combined for 20 boards, 57 percent of CMU's total.
CMU leads the MAC in blocks per game (3.6) and the Chippewas swatted five shots in the contest with Drew Walker and Sefton Barrett notching two apiece and Justin Blevins one.
CMU hasn't scored 30 points in the opening half in 10 straight games.
The six-point loss tied CMU's closest margin of defeat this season (Kent State, 66-60).