Chippewas Rally Past Bowling Green, 62-60 in Overtime for Third Straight Win

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich - "Barn burner" may not even do justice to what took place at McGuirk Arena on Tuesday night.

But after a handful of lead changes, a few huge late-game shots and a gritty defensive effort in overtime, the Central Michigan Men's Basketball team escaped with a 62-60 win over Bowling Green.

It may not have been the prettiest performance, but head coach Tony Barbee emphasized the makeup of his team as the catalyst for its winning ways of late as they've won eight of the last nine games and move to 10-3 in MAC play.

"This team has got big heart," Barbee said. "Big, big heart. This team, they are lost in the team. They are. When (I) envision a team that I coach, this is what I want it to look like. They are playing for each other."

With just eight seconds remaining in overtime, graduate guard Brian Taylor registered the game-winning field goal on a layup via a play Barbee ran for specifically for him. It was the second time Barbee ran the play for Taylor, which didn't produce the same result the first time around.

"We're going to our senior, and you're going to make this play or you're not," Barbee said of his decision to turn to Taylor. "So the first time up two, we ran that exact same play and he gets bullied by (Rashaun) Agee, who takes the ball from him and they go score the layup to tie it. I think they called a timeout and it was a tie game. I said 'we're going right back to the same play Brian, and this is on you.'"

"I had a tough game on the offensive end, but he trusted me and I trust him," Taylor said. "I just made the play that I knew he wanted me to make, and it felt good."

Taylor had eight points on 4-for-12 shooting, but his impact was heavily felt elsewhere in the stat sheet. His 15 rebounds were a career high, and he also logged three steals and two blocks on the night.

Preceding Taylor's heroics in overtime were a pair of massive shots at the end of regulation to get them there. Down 55-51 with 11 seconds remaining, junior guard Derrick Butler hoisted an off-balance 3-point shot at the top of the key and banked it in to keep his team alive.

Following some sticky defense and a missed free throw from Bowling Green, freshman guard Cayden Vasko found himself with the ball in the closing moments of regulation. The result was a game-tying layup with just over a second remaining, and a chance at overtime.

"That gave us a lot of energy," point guard Anthony Pritchard said of his teammates' big shots. "Without those shots, I mean, the game would have been over. So we just took that as, 'they just messed up giving us another five minutes.'"

While the game ultimately played out as close as it could have at the end, the margin was not always so thin. The Chippewas dominated Bowling Green in the first half defensively, holding the Falcons to 15 points on 5-of-30 shooting (16.7%) - both of which were season lows for the Falcons.

"We had an opportunity in the first half," Barbee said. "When you hold your opponent to 16% shooting and 0% from three, you have to be up more than 10 after all those stops. Give Bowling Green credit though."

While neither team had a banner day in terms of shooting, CMU's defensive intensity gave way to an overall shooting night of 18-for-65 (27.7%) from the Falcons. Bowling Green also only managed one 3-point make in its 16 attempts.

On top of the shooting woes, the Chippewas forced turnovers consistently throughout the night as the Falcons coughed it up 14 times. Along with Taylor, Vasko and Pritchard each had three steals.

Looking ahead, CMU is back at it on Saturday (Feb. 24), when the Chippewas head to Miami (OH) to take on the RedHawks in Oxford, Ohio. Tipoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET.

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Team Stats

Anthony Pritchard

Markus Harding

Brian Taylor

Derrick Butler

Players Mentioned

Derrick Butler

Anthony Pritchard

Brian Taylor

Cayden Vasko