Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Close Regular Season With Home Loss to Western
3/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Some day, Chris Fowler, John Simons and Co. will look back and recall the frustration of growing pains with a look-at-us-now satisfaction.
That some day can’t get here soon enough.
All five Western Michigan starters scored in double figures Friday as the Broncos defeated Central Michigan, 78-64, in a Mid-American Conference men’s basketball game at McGuirk Arena.
It was the home finale for CMU, which opens MAC tournament play on Monday at Ohio or Eastern Michigan. Western improved to 21-9 overall, 14-4 MAC and clinched a share of the league’s Western Division title.
The Broncos could win the division crown outright and would hold the top seed heading in the conference tournament if Toledo loses its regular season-finale at home against Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
For Central, 10-20, 3-15, the loss stings, but it’s another the Chippewas can look at as perhaps something on which to build or something to learn from, even as short-term frustration mounts.
“We’ve proved to ourselves that we can play with the top teams in the league and if we do what we’re supposed to do where we follow and execute the game plan we can be up and actually win these games, that’s what we’ve proved to ourselves,” CMU guard Chris Fowler said. “We don’t like losing, but to continue to play well and have leads – we’re learning. As soon as we get it, I feel like we’re going to be really good.”
The loss came three nights after a 73-69 loss to Toledo, and less than a week since the Chippewas dropped a three-point decision at Ball State.
“We've got to get better from this and we've got to use this,” CMU coach Keno Davis said. “You know you watch a team like Western celebrate on your court, you don't want that to happen very often and if you're a competitor …
“I know we've got some true competitors on this team and it's going to be interesting on how they improve and learn from the experience.
“We understand that not only can we compete with the best teams (in the MAC), but we can beat them. We're just not there as a team. The time is running short this season, but we're looking forward to focus on the conference tournament wherever we might go on Monday.”
David Brown, the MAC’s leading scorer, finished with 17 points to pace the Broncos. Western’s other four starters – Austin Richie, Shayne Whittington, Connar Tava and Tucker Haymond – scored from 13-15 points apiece.
That balance, coupled with a torrid Bronco second-half shooting performance, spelled doom for the Chippewas.
The Broncos made 17 of their 21 second-half field goal attempts (81 percent) including a perfect 6-for-6 clip from 3-point range. Western made nine of its 12 triple tries on the night.
John Simons scored 16 points for CMU, which was held to 39.3 percent shooting (22-for-56) and made just 8-of-23 from the floor (34.8 percent) after halftime.
Central led, 38-33, at the break, but that lead evaporated seven minutes into the second half. A jumper by Whittington, a 6-foot-11 senior, put Western up, 49-48, and ignited a 16-4 Bronco spurt after which Western led by 13, 65-52, with just over six minutes remaining.
Western’s lead hit a game-high 16 when Brown calmly beat the expiring shot clock with a 3-pointer with 2:08 left, making it 76-60.
When the dust cleared, Western had outscored CMU, 45-26, in the second half.
“I think you look at part of the difference between our team and their team is that they have two first-team all-conference players that are seniors that have been through it,” Davis said. “So when we were up five, six points at halftime, they didn't panic, they stayed to their game plan, they stayed solid and were able to execute better than us in the second half.
“All season we have had a tendency to be up and down in all parts of our game. We need more experience and we need to add players for the future and that's not anything that's a hidden secret. We know we need some inside help. We need some development from our players in the off-season to be able to cover up the weaknesses that we currently have.”
