Central Michigan University
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Western Michigan
Western Prevails in Double OT Thriller, 75-71
1/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2006
MOUNT PLEASANT - Western Michigan's Brian Snider hit a game-tying shot with six seconds left in regulation and the Chippewas went just 2-for-6 from the line in the first overtime as the visiting Broncos escaped Rose Arena with a 75-71 double-overtime victory over Central Michigan University on Sunday.
CMU (3-15, 1-9 Mid-American) was 6-for-12 from the line in the extra frames while WMU (8-11, 5-4 Mid-American) made 5-of-7.
Chippewa freshman Chris Kellermann split a pair of free throws with 41 seconds left in regulation to put CMU up by two before Snider hit the tying jumper with just six ticks left.
Giordan Watson took it coast-to-coast for CMU after that and he tried drawing contact at the hoop but no foul was called as the buzzer sounded.
Each team scored just two points in the first overtime, a jumper by WMU's Andrew Hershberger and a pair of free throws by Watson. The Broncos didn't attempt any freebies in the first overtime while the Chippewas managed to hit just two of their six tries from the stripe.
"This was a great college basketball game," CMU coach Jay Smith said. "But we've got to be able to step up and make free throws. We outrebounded them and played great defense. It came down to free throws. Both teams competed well and it was a great atmosphere."
Snider had a shot to win it at the end of the first OT for WMU. Following a Bronco timeout, the WMU senior again found the ball in his hands but his jumper with two seconds left was off and Watson secured the rebound for the Chippewas.
Sefton Barrett had 15 points, eight boards and five blocks against the Broncos.  | |
Both teams piled up the points early in the second OT and the Broncos were leading 73-71 when Watson drove to the lane and hit a layup. But, he was called for a charge to the dismay of the home crowd when it thought he was going to the line for an old-fashioned three-point play that could have given CMU the lead.
Each team called a timeout after that and WMU's Joe Reitz pulled down an offensive rebound with four seconds left after Snider miss with the shot clock running out and the Chippewas had to foul the Bronco center. Reitz nailed both free throws making it a four-point game and that ended up being the final margin.
Eight of the 10 starters in the game hit double figures, four for each team.
Watson scored a game-high 22 for CMU in the losing effort while Barrett had 15, Justin Blevins 13 and Kellermann 10.
Reitz finished with a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Broncos. Snider ended with 14 points and seven assists and Hershberger and Stane's Bufford each had 10 points.
CMU outrebounded Western, 44-37, with Eddie Spencer grabbing a career-high 11 to go along with eight points.
The Chippewas jumped out to a quick nine-point lead seven minutes in but WMU used runs of 5-0 and 9-0 to turn the momentum around into a five-point advantage for the Broncos at 24-19.
WMU would go to the locker room with a four-point lead at the break, 33-29, thanks to a Derek Fracalossi trey with three seconds left.
Western controlled early in the second half but CMU tied it at 41 with 16:41 left on a three-pointer by Kellermann. The lead see-sawed back and forth briefly and WMU again controlled until a breakaway dunk by Barrett gave the Chippewas a 57-56 advantage with 3:40 left. Watson pushed it up to a four-point game when he was fouled on a layup and hit the free throw with 3:05.
But, CMU wouldn't get another field goal again in regulation as Bufford split a pair of free throws with 2:35 remaining and Snider nailed a jumper with 2:20 left to cut it to one.
Kellermann went to the line with 41 seconds left for CMU but he only converted one of the free throws, hitting the second to give the home team a small, two-point lead, before Snider's end of regulation heroics.
The Chippewas will now face their other in-state Mid-American Conference rival on Wednesday when they travel to Eastern Michigan. Tipoff in the Convocation Center is set for 7 p.m.
NOTES:
- CMU coach Jay Smith had been bothered by kidney stones the past two days and was briefly taken to the hospital just before the game. "I wasn't going to miss this game unless I was going to die," he said in the postgame press conference.
- The Chippewas had a season-high 10 blocked shots in the game, including three by 5-10 Giordan Watson. His highlight block came on an Andre Ricks' breakaway with just over a minute left that helped preserve CMU's one-point lead at the time. Sefton Barrett rejected a career-high five shots.
- Justin Blevins followed up his season-high 10 points against Northern Illinois on Thursday with a new season-high of 13 points, one short of his career high.
- The Chippewas had just three bench points, a second-half trey by Aaron Richie.
- Giordan Watson scored 18 of his 22 points after the half.
- CMU's 10 team blocks were three shy of the school record of 13 set against Michigan-Dearborn in 1995.
- The Chippewas are now 5-8 in overtime games under Jay Smith and 0-3 in multiple-overtime affairs. CMU fell to Akron in OT earlier this season, 76-69.
- The last times these rivals went to overtime was a CMU road win during the 2001 MAC championship season when the Chippewas posted a 73-71 triumph.
