Chippewas Let One Slip Away, Drop 73-72 Decision to Stony Brook

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Chippewas Let One Slip Away, Drop 73-72 Decision to Stony Brook

11/7/2024 11:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Chippewas squander 12-point second half lead, miss four free throws in the last minute, still lead 72-71 with 24 seconds to go; Jakobi Heady scores 15 points to lead four Chippewas in double figures.

By: Greg Hotchkiss

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—Collin O'Connor converted a driving layup with three seconds to play to give Stony Brook a 73-72 come-from-behind men's basketball win over Central Michigan on Tuesday night before 2,002 McGuirk Arena spectators.

It was a lost opportunity for Central Michigan (1-1), which had the game in control as the Chippewas led by as many as 12 points (54-42) with 10:17 to play. Down the stretch, the Chippewas made plays and had opportunities in the closing seconds, but missed four free throws, including three consecutive in the game's final minute. Even with the missed free throws, the Chippewas held a 72-71 lead with 24 seconds to play.

"It's very disappointing because we had full control of the game," Central Michigan head coach Tony Barbee said. "After all was said and done, when it came down to winning time where you've got to be your most disciplined, you're most strong-willed and strong-minded, we were our least disciplined, our least tough-minded, and we made a lot of mistakes. You don't gamble in that situation, and we kept gambling."

"We were still in control, we had the lead, and then we miss three straight free throws. You make the free throws; the game is over. Then out of a timeout with what we're going to do defensively, we don't execute. We talked exactly about what we wanted to do on that play and we do the opposite. It can't happen. On the last play, I thought we executed. We gave the officials a chance to swallow their whistles because of what we did in the previous three minutes."

Stony Brook hung around, gradually cut the margin down and forced a close game down the stretch. The visiting Seawolves hit three of their final four shots and made 2-2 free throws in the final 2:26 to claim the win.

Andre Snoddy hit two free throws to trim CMU's lead down to one point (67-66), then CJ Luster intercepted a CMU pass and converted a 3-point play on a layup to give Stony Brook a 69-67 advantage with 2:09 to go. On the next possession, Central Michigan grabbed the lead right back 70-69 when Jakobi Heady swished a clutch 3-pointer from the corner. Following a timeout, O'Connor gave the Seahawks a 71-70 lead with 1:26 to play on a driving layup. Pritchard drew a foul and converted 1-2 free throws to tie the game at 71-71 with 59 seconds to play.

After Stony Brook (1-1) missed a jumper, Pritchard drew another foul with 24 seconds to play. He made the first shot to give the Chippewas a 72-71 lead and missed the second opportunity, which CMU's Bryan Ndjonga hustled and soared through the lane, grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Ndjonga, who hit two clutch free throws in the closing seconds to secure a 74-70 win for CMU on Monday at South Alabama, missed both attempts.

With Central Michigan clinging to a 72-71 lead, Stony Brook grabbed the rebound, brought the ball up the floor, ran the clock down and with three seconds to play, O'Connor drove to the basket and converted a wide open layup for the lead.

"In those situations down the stretch, you have to be the most disciplined, the toughest minded and the most physically and mentally tough in those moments," Barbee said. "We were the opposite. A lot of that is due to us not having the chance to work on that in practice because we're so injured. We haven't had the opportunity to go five-on-five in practice the entire preseason."

"All that being said is, we've got a real good team that's going to have a special season, but this is a process. This is disappointing because we let one go. You never want to contribute to your own demise in basketball or life and we did that tonight. We can't get this one back. All we can do is learn from it and get better. We are nowhere near the team that we're going to be today as we're going to be a month from now in December and so on and so forth. This is about the process."

The two teams played a tightly contested defensive-oriented first half until the Chippewas went on a 9-0 run to build a 36-30 halftime advantage. Trailing 28-25, Central Michigan put together a 9-0 run using defense and efficient offense. Ndjonga started the rally with a layup off a pass from Vasko, Ndjonga fed Hunter Harding for a layup and 29-28 lead, then Vasko swished a 3-pointer and CMU was up 32-28. Harding followed with a tipin; Pritchard scored on a layup with 39 seconds to play to give CMU a commanding eight-point lead (36-28). Stony Brook's Ben Wright scored on a tipin to stop the run, but the Chippewas took a 36-30 lead into halftime.

Harding sparked CMU in the first half with nine points (4-6 FG) and five rebounds.

Central Michigan pushed its lead to as many 12 points on a Kyler VanderJagt layup with 10:17 to play.

Heady led CMU with 15 points and eight rebounds, Pritchard finished with 12 points and six assists, Ugnius Jarusevicius (six rebounds) and Damarion Bonds (11 minutes) both finished with 10 points apiece. Vasko had seven points, six assists and seven rebounds.

Stony Brook was led by O'Connor's 16 points. Luster finished with 15.

The game drew 2,002 enthusiastic spectators, including a lively Snake Pit student cheering section and Barbee appreciated the support.

"The crowd was great, we appreciate the fans," Barbee said. "We need that every game. We're going to do our part. We've got a fun team; we've got an exciting team. We need Mount Pleasant, we need the Central Michigan students, we need the faculty and staff to come out and support us. We were out there handing out doughnuts today. I'm disappointed that we didn't return the favor tonight."

For the second straight game, CMU started Ndjonga, Harding, Heady, Vasko, and Pritchard.

The game marks CMU's first of three Marquette Challenge contests. Next up, the Chippewas will travel to Milwaukee, Wis. to take on No. 18/17 Marquette on Monday night at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. The game will be nationally televised on FS1. CMU's third Marquette Challenge game is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 13 at George Mason in Fairfax, Va.

CMU men's basketball season tickets and single game tickets are already on sale. Fans can order season tickets by calling Ticket Central at (989) 774-3045, by ordering on this link, or by stopping by Ticket Central located in the John G. Kulhavi Events Center between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Single-game tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16. For more information, click here.

—CMU—

Central Michigan Announces Entire 2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule

Thursday, August 21

Men's Basketball to Host Appalachian State in MAC-SBC Challenge

Tuesday, July 01

Men's Basketball Signee Keenan Garner to Compete with Under-19 German National Team at 2025 FIBA World Cup

Friday, June 27

Jimmy Booth Named Director of Men's Basketball Operations

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Team Stats

Jakobi Heady

Anthony Pritchard

Damarion Bonds

Ugnius Jarusevicius

Players Mentioned

Damarion Bonds

Hunter Harding

Jakobi Heady

Ugnius Jarusevicius

Bryan Ndjonga

Kyler VanderJagt

Chippewas Let One Slip Away, Drop 73-72 Decision to Stony Brook

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Ugnius Jarusevicius

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Damarion Bonds

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Chippewas Let One Slip Away, Drop 73-72 Decision to Stony Brook

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