CMU Men Tip It Up At Ohio In MAC Tournament Opener

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The league tournament and a chance to make something happen.

The Central Michigan men's basketball team will open the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Monday (7 p.m.) with a first-round game at Ohio. The winner moves on to Cleveland, where it will join seven other teams for tourney quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Chippewas go into Monday's game with a shot of momentum courtesy of their 85-68 win over Western Michigan in their home finale on Friday. That ended a nine-game losing streak and left the Chippewas, 14-17, 7-11 MAC, and with the No. 9 seed in the tournament.

Ohio, 15-15, 8-10, is the No. 8 seed. The Bobcats topped Miami (Ohio), 67-65, in their regular-season finale.

With the way the MAC has played out this season, any team has a chance to win the tournament.

"I think we are (a sneaky team), but there are a lot of them," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "I think from (seeds) one to 12, there's not much difference. The only surprise would be if the seeds hold.

"For us, obviously we didn't take care of business to get that (first-round) home game. But you can't look backward, you have to look forward. I think we should be looking at it as a great opportunity."

The 85 points CMU scored on Western was the Chippewas' highest total in a month, and they lead the MAC in scoring at 78.7 points per game.

That alone could make the Chippewas dangerous.

"I think we can be the ones cutting down the nets Saturday night," said senior David DiLeo, the MAC's career 3-point king who leads CMU in scoring at 14.7 points per game. "I think we have the talent to do it. We just have to take it one game at a time; we can't look two (games) ahead. You can't get too high or too low. If the other team goes on a run, we still have to lock in, stick to the game plan, and play a full 40 minutes.

"During the losing streak, with the exception of a couple, we were right there in those games. It's just a couple little things here and there, so if we can stick to the scouting report, and stick to playing Central Michigan basketball for a full 40 minutes, I don't think there's anyone in this conference that we can't beat."

Ohio won the only regular-season meeting with the Chippewas, 77-69, in Athens on Feb. 18. CMU led, 33-27, at halftime, but was outscored 50-36 in the final 20 minutes.

Jordan Dartis scored 27 points to lead the Bobcats in that game. Jason Preston, a 6-foot 4 sophomore, leads Ohio in scoring (16.4) and is the MAC leader in assists (7.4). Ben Vander Plas, a 6-8 sophomore, is second on the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game and leads the Bobcats with 6.8 rebounds per game.

Ohio is second in the MAC with a .448 field goal percentage and is third in 3-point field goal percentage (.345).

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Players Mentioned

David DiLeo