• Blog
  • About Us
  • Links
  MAC Reporter Online

Backcourt, defense help CMU edge Falcons

1/25/2017

 
Picture
By KEVIN SMITH
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.-  The backcourt tandem of Marcus Keene and Braylon Rayson combined for 55 points as Central Michigan defeated Bowling Green 82-76 Tuesday at McGuirk Arena.
 
Keene, the nation’s top scorer, tallied 28 points on 7 of 20 shooting, while adding 11 points from the free throw line. The junior transfer was coming off a Division I-best 50 point performance Saturday against Miami (OH).
 
Rayson, meanwhile, registered . . . 

. . . 27 points as the senior guard notched his sixth straight 20-point performance.
 
CMU connected on 22 of 26 from the charity stripe, while also only giving the ball away nine times. Freshman forward David DiLeo added 14 points (8 rebounds) off the bench in 26 minutes of action. Luke Meyer scored 7 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
 
Two DiLeo free throws moved Central Michigan in front, 12-11, with 15:11 left in the first period and the home team expanded its advantage to as many as 14 points before taking a 42-30 lead to the locker room.
 
"We gave them too much space, and too much respect in the first half, and that was the difference," said head coach Michael Huger. "You see what they do on tape, and the numbers that they have, and I thought our guys were a little bit intimidated by that to start the game. As we went on, we picked it up. We weren't afraid to go out and challenge them.
 
It was a game-high 15 points lead at 15:57 before the Falcons began to chip away at the Chippewas advantage.  Bowling Green pulled to within four points, 68-64, at the 4:20 mark, but that was as close as the Falcons would get.
 
Central Michigan put the game away by hitting 9 of 10 from the free throw line.
 
“For us to be able to win on an off-shooting night, to be able to win with our defense, is a great sign moving forward,” CMU coach Keno Davis said. “We’ve been working almost completely on our defense and our rebounding in practice. …  It’s “not as much fun for our players having defense and rebounding practice … (but) we know how important the defense is for us to improve. I think you saw some strides in that. The idea is to be a little bit better each game, each day that you come out, and I think if you look back a couple weeks ago defensively and rebounding, we’ve definitely made some improvement in those areas.”
 
Rodrick Caldwell scored 19 points off the bench to lead Bowling Green. Wes Alcegaire added 16 points, while Damajeo Wiggins had a spectacular night on the boards. His 22 rebounds were the most caroms collected by a Falcon player in 43 years.  Cornelius Cash also had 22 rebounds for BGSU in a Falcons game against San Diego State in 1974.
 
"[Demajeo] did a great job on the boards,” Huger said. “He played 31 minutes, and the pace was very fast for him, but he was able to keep up. He was able to rebound like a mad man tonight, and now the next challenge will be doing it again. We'll see on Saturday."
 
Bowling Green will host Ohio on Saturday (4 p.m. ET). Central Michigan is on the road at Kent State Saturday (noon). 

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    MAC Football 

    UPCOMING GAMES
    All times Eastern

    ​

    MAC FOOTBALL STANDINGS
    -- Final - 2022 -- 
    MAC EAST
    OHIO 7-1
    BUFFALO 5-3
    BOWLING GREEN 5-3

    MIAMI 4-4
    KENT STATE 4-4
    AKRON 1-7

    MAC WEST
    TOLEDO 5-3

    EASTERN MICHIGAN 5-3
    WESTERN MICHIGAN 4-4
    ​BALL STATE 3-5
    CENTRAL MICHIGAN 3-5

    NORTHERN ILLINOIS 2-6

    MAC Basketball 
    MAC BASKETBALL STANDINGS
    (Through 3-3-23)

    Team - MAC -- Overall
    Toledo 16-2 (25-6)
    Kent State 15-3 (25-6)
    Akron 13-5 (21-10)
    Ball State 11-7 (20-11)
    Ohio 10-8 (18-13)
    Buffalo 9-9 (15-16)
    Northern Illinois 9-9 (13-18)
    Miami 6-12 (12-19)
    Bowling Green 5-13 (11-20)
    Central Michigan 5-13 (10-21)
    Eastern Michigan 5-13 (8-23)
    Western Michigan 4-14 (8-23)

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Basketball
    Football
    Other

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly