Barrett Leads CMU Past Morehead State, 52-51

Box Score

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Sefton Barrett's alley-oop dunk to start the second half sparked Central Michigan University on a 9-0 run as the Chippewas pulled away from Morehead State on Saturday afternoon in Johnson Arena and then held on for a 52-51 win.

The CMU victory snapped a 17-game non-conference road losing streak for the Chippewas (5-7) that dated back to 2003.

Barrett took game high honors with a season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth career double-double. He had a steal and break away dunk that gave the Chippewas a 13-point lead, 46-33, with 8:36 left.

But, it would get interesting after that as CMU made just two more field goals the rest of the game. Central's last points came on a jumper by Giordan Watson with 2:34 remaining that made it 52-45. MSU trimmed it to a one-point game with an old-fashioned three-point play by Cordaryl Ballard with 2:17 remaining and trio of Quentin Pryor free throws after he was fouled on a trey attempt from the corner with 1:43 left.

Neither team managed to post any more points as both made key defensive stops down the stretch. CMU would make three stops in the final 11 seconds following a MSU timeout.

The Eagles (7-5) went to their leading scorer, Shaun Williams, whose jumper from the right side was off the mark and Ballard secured the rebound but his putback was off as well. Sefton Barrett secured the carom with 3.2 seconds left and he was immediately fouled.

Barrett would miss the front end of a bonus situation at the line and Morehead State called a pair of 30-second timeouts. CMU also would use a full timeout to set up its defense as the host Eagles had to go the length of the court in 2.3 seconds.

MSU's first option on the inbounds wasn't open so Nikola Stojakovic inbounded the ball to Williams who launched a half-court shot that hit the backboard at the buzzer.

"This is a step in the right direction," coach Ernie Zeigler said. "Our guys kept battling and that's what we talked about during the last week after a disappointing loss to Niagara last Saturday. It started with our senior leadership and Sefton Barrett coming out and willing us to the win. Hopefully, we can use this as a springboard into our MAC opener next week."

The first half had seven ties and 14 lead changes before Barrett had a putback dunk that just beat the halftime buzzer and gave CMU a 29-27 lead at the break. He had 11 points in the opening half.

"We fed off of Sefton's energy," Zeigler said. "He got to the offensive boards and had one huge putback in the first half. We went to him to start the second half and he got us off to a good start."

Neither team shot well in the game. CMU hit 36 percent from the floor and 18 percent from three-point range while MSU hit just 27 percent from the floor and 11 percent from the arc.

"The thing I look at is that we held them to 27 percent field goal shooting on their home floor, 23 percent in the second half," Zeigler said. "That's a fine example of how when we are struggling offensively, we can still win if we continue to battle on the defensive end."

Watson finished with 11 points and five assists and Justin Blevins added 10 points and five boards.

Ballard led the Eagles with a near double-double of 16 points and nine boards while Pryor added 14 points.

Next up for the Chippewas is the Mid-American Conference opener on Saturday, Jan. 6, at Eastern Michigan. Tipoff in the Convocation Center is set for 3 p.m.

NOTES:

*  CMU's last non-conference road victory was also by a one-point margin as CMU won at No. 23-ranked Notre Dame, 69-68, on Dec. 6, 2003. Joe Carr hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to defeat the Irish.

* The teams' leading scorers entering the game both had rough outings offensively. CMU's Giordan Watson was 3-for-18 from the floor while MSU's Shaun Williams was 2-for-12.

* CMU improved to 4-0 all-time against Morehead State.

* First-year head coach Ernie Zeigler is now 2-0 against fellow rookie head coaches this season.

* CMU's five wins surpasses last year's total of four.

* The Chippewas held a 37-35 advantage on the boards; CMU has outrebounded nine of its 12 opponents this season.

* Andre Smyth returned to the starting lineup for the first time since starting the first two games of the season.