Tuesday, February 14
Bowling Green, Ohio
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
10-16,5-8MAC
77
at
74
Bowling Green
10-16,4-9MAC
1
2
F
Central Mich.
33
44
77
Bowling Green
29
45
74
Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
Men's Basketball Overcomes Late Deficit for Second Straight Game, Defeats Bowling Green 77-74
2/14/2023 10:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Central Michigan outscores Bowling Green 19-4 over the contest’s final 4:35, Chippewas register second straight victory and second consecutive road victory; Reggie Bass ties a career-high with 25 points; CMU moves into eighth place in the MAC standings.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio—For the second straight game, the Central Michigan men's basketball team overcame a late double-digit deficit as it outscored Bowling Green 19-4 over the game's final 4:35 to claim a 77-74 road win over the Falcons Tuesday evening at the Stroh Center.
Freshman Reggie Bass scored a game and career-high tying 25 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds, senior Brian Taylor scored 14 points with six assists and five rebounds, freshman Max Majerle added 10 points, senior Miroslav Stafl and sophomore Nicolas Pavrette both contributed nine points apiece.
The victory marked Central Michigan's second consecutive win, its second straight road victory, and 10th on the year. With the win, CMU moves into eighth place in the MAC standings with a 5-8 league record and 10-16 overall slate. The league's top eight teams will advance to the MAC Tournament, March 9-11 in Cleveland, Ohio. CMU handed Bowling Green its sixth consecutive loss and dropped the Falcons to 4-9 in the MAC and 10-16 overall.
On Saturday afternoon, Central Michigan overcame a 14-point second half deficit to defeat Miami (Ohio) on the road, 66-60. This time, Central Michigan trailed 70-58 when it used a 10-0 run to get back into the game. Bass hit back-to-back layups, Taylor hit a 3-pointer, Bass followed with another layup to cut the lead down to four points (71-67) with 2:53 to go. Taylor then followed with a 3-pointer to pull CMU to within point at 71-70 with 2:09 left. After a BG turnover, Bass gave CMU a one-point lead (72-71) on a layup.
Following a layup by Bowling Green's Kaden Metheny which gave the Falcons the lead back, Bass was fouled and hit two free throws for a 74-73 CMU lead with 34 seconds left. CMU forced Bowling Green into missing two shots, grabbed the second rebound, and Bass was fouled again. He stepped to the line and hit both free throws for a 76-73 lead with four seconds to play. Freshman Ola Ajiboye secured the win with a free throw with one second left.
"We got a big one today and I'm happy for this team," Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said. "They are battling, they are fighting, they are doing everything I'm asking them to do. Believe me, it's enjoyable to coach when you don't have guys fighting. This team is playing for each other and it makes it easy to coach."
"These guys are playing for each other. We've adopted a new moniker, MBK, my brother's keeper and they are not worrying about my points, my shots, who we currently have. All they're worrying about is how do we win? And it's like the old saying goes, it's incredible what can happen when nobody cares who gets the credit. That's what this team is doing right now and good things are happening."
It wasn't easy for the Chippewas, which led 46-41 with 12:20 to play. Three CMU turnovers led to an 11-0 Bowling Green run. Rashaun Agee scored on a free throw, then followed with a fast break dunk to give Bowling Green a 46-44 lead with 11:30 to play, BG's first lead since the game's opening minutes. Later, an Isaac Elsasser corner 3-pointer put Bowling Green a 50-46 lead with 10:23 to play. Two Agee free throws put the Falcons a 52-46 lead.
Bowling Green extended its advantage to 12 points (70-58) on two Samari Curtis free throws with 4:35 to play. The Falcons would go on to score just four more points on one field goal the rest of the way.
"In conference play when you're on the road, you've got to find a way," Barbee said. "It doesn't have to be pretty but we found a way tonight. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you do it. We made a lot of mistakes, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter."
"We had some great defensive stops. We had two big threes from Brian Taylor. Reggie played with maturity for the full 40 minutes. If you noticed in the Miami game, he missed a large stretch of the game. Today, he made some mistakes and he responded. He said my bad coach, I've got you. You can see what kind of player he can be when his mind is in the right space."
The first half saw Central Michigan register an 11-0 run which enabled it to hold a four-point halftime advantage at 33-29.
Bowling Green was led by Metheny's 19 points, while Agee added 11.
Five regular season games remain for Central Michigan as the Chippewas host Ohio on Saturday at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Arena.
Freshman Reggie Bass scored a game and career-high tying 25 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds, senior Brian Taylor scored 14 points with six assists and five rebounds, freshman Max Majerle added 10 points, senior Miroslav Stafl and sophomore Nicolas Pavrette both contributed nine points apiece.
The victory marked Central Michigan's second consecutive win, its second straight road victory, and 10th on the year. With the win, CMU moves into eighth place in the MAC standings with a 5-8 league record and 10-16 overall slate. The league's top eight teams will advance to the MAC Tournament, March 9-11 in Cleveland, Ohio. CMU handed Bowling Green its sixth consecutive loss and dropped the Falcons to 4-9 in the MAC and 10-16 overall.
On Saturday afternoon, Central Michigan overcame a 14-point second half deficit to defeat Miami (Ohio) on the road, 66-60. This time, Central Michigan trailed 70-58 when it used a 10-0 run to get back into the game. Bass hit back-to-back layups, Taylor hit a 3-pointer, Bass followed with another layup to cut the lead down to four points (71-67) with 2:53 to go. Taylor then followed with a 3-pointer to pull CMU to within point at 71-70 with 2:09 left. After a BG turnover, Bass gave CMU a one-point lead (72-71) on a layup.
Following a layup by Bowling Green's Kaden Metheny which gave the Falcons the lead back, Bass was fouled and hit two free throws for a 74-73 CMU lead with 34 seconds left. CMU forced Bowling Green into missing two shots, grabbed the second rebound, and Bass was fouled again. He stepped to the line and hit both free throws for a 76-73 lead with four seconds to play. Freshman Ola Ajiboye secured the win with a free throw with one second left.
"We got a big one today and I'm happy for this team," Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said. "They are battling, they are fighting, they are doing everything I'm asking them to do. Believe me, it's enjoyable to coach when you don't have guys fighting. This team is playing for each other and it makes it easy to coach."
"These guys are playing for each other. We've adopted a new moniker, MBK, my brother's keeper and they are not worrying about my points, my shots, who we currently have. All they're worrying about is how do we win? And it's like the old saying goes, it's incredible what can happen when nobody cares who gets the credit. That's what this team is doing right now and good things are happening."
It wasn't easy for the Chippewas, which led 46-41 with 12:20 to play. Three CMU turnovers led to an 11-0 Bowling Green run. Rashaun Agee scored on a free throw, then followed with a fast break dunk to give Bowling Green a 46-44 lead with 11:30 to play, BG's first lead since the game's opening minutes. Later, an Isaac Elsasser corner 3-pointer put Bowling Green a 50-46 lead with 10:23 to play. Two Agee free throws put the Falcons a 52-46 lead.
Bowling Green extended its advantage to 12 points (70-58) on two Samari Curtis free throws with 4:35 to play. The Falcons would go on to score just four more points on one field goal the rest of the way.
"In conference play when you're on the road, you've got to find a way," Barbee said. "It doesn't have to be pretty but we found a way tonight. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you do it. We made a lot of mistakes, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter."
"We had some great defensive stops. We had two big threes from Brian Taylor. Reggie played with maturity for the full 40 minutes. If you noticed in the Miami game, he missed a large stretch of the game. Today, he made some mistakes and he responded. He said my bad coach, I've got you. You can see what kind of player he can be when his mind is in the right space."
The first half saw Central Michigan register an 11-0 run which enabled it to hold a four-point halftime advantage at 33-29.
Bowling Green was led by Metheny's 19 points, while Agee added 11.
Five regular season games remain for Central Michigan as the Chippewas host Ohio on Saturday at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Arena.
—CMU—
Team Stats
CMU
BGSU
FG%
.528
.439
3FG%
.500
.474
FT%
.706
.577
RB
31
34
TO
16
12
STL
8
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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