Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – It was a good test, and one the Central Michigan Chippewas passed.
Cecil Williams and Shawn Roundtree Jr. scored 17 points apiece on Saturday as the Chippewas emerged victorious, 74-69, from a dogfight with Tennessee Tech before 1,956 at McGuirk Arena.
The win was . . .
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – It was a good test, and one the Central Michigan Chippewas passed.
Cecil Williams and Shawn Roundtree Jr. scored 17 points apiece on Saturday as the Chippewas emerged victorious, 74-69, from a dogfight with Tennessee Tech before 1,956 at McGuirk Arena.
The win was . . .
. . . CMU’s seventh consecutive and it lifted the Chippewas to 8-1. Central Michigan, which is unbeaten at home, hits the road for its next two games against Southern Utah (Dec. 16) and Missouri-Kansas City (Dec. 19).
“That’s a really good Ohio Valley Conference team, a team that’s got a chance to make some noise in their conference,” CMU coach Keno Davis said of the Golden Eagles (7-4).
“I think we were fortunate not only to be able to win, but to have a team come in here that exposed some things we need to work on and challenged us and give us that experience going forward as we get closer and closer to the end of the nonconference season.”
David DiLeo added 14 points and Kevin McKay had 10 for the Chippewas, who finished on the short end of a 37-36 count in total rebounds, but out-boarded the Golden Eagles, 19-15 in the second half.
Luke Meyer and DiLeo led CMU with seven rebonds apiece.
“Tennessee Tech came in here and they really pounded us on the glass, especially in the first half,” DiLeo said. “That was kind of good for us, a reality check. Just because we’ve won a couple games, they’re not going to come in here and roll over. It was nice to pull out the win even though we might have struggled.”
Curtis Phillips scored 14 points to lead Tennessee Tech, which lost its third straight game.
The Chippewas took the lead for good, 39-37, on two DiLeo free throws with under a minute to play in the first half. CMU led by as many as eight points in the second half, but could never get comfortable.
Tennesse Tech drew within a point, 70-69, on a Mason Ramsey jumper with 27 seconds to play. Williams, however, completed a three-point play with 13 seconds left and DiLeo made a free throw with under 2 seconds remaining to ice it.
The game provided the Chippewas with a very good test as they faced a talented opponent that refused to wilt despite playing its third road game in a week.
While the Chippewas have won their share of blowouts through nine games, they are 4-1 in games decided by seven points or less. The loss came at Michigan, 72-65. And for a CMU team that had so many new faces and veteran players filling unfamiliar roles as it entered the season, there are plenty of good signs, Davis said.
“Sometimes you have to go through that learning process and take your (losses) because of it, but our guys have been able to find ways to win,” he said. “And I think the thing that has helped make our guys special is that when we come back to the practice court, they’ve treated those mistakes with a great deal of focus to try to improve upon them.”
“We understand we’ve got some areas that we’ve improved upon, but we also know that we’ve got a ways to go in a lot of areas too. If we keep that attitude I’m looking forward to seeing what this team is all about.”
“That’s a really good Ohio Valley Conference team, a team that’s got a chance to make some noise in their conference,” CMU coach Keno Davis said of the Golden Eagles (7-4).
“I think we were fortunate not only to be able to win, but to have a team come in here that exposed some things we need to work on and challenged us and give us that experience going forward as we get closer and closer to the end of the nonconference season.”
David DiLeo added 14 points and Kevin McKay had 10 for the Chippewas, who finished on the short end of a 37-36 count in total rebounds, but out-boarded the Golden Eagles, 19-15 in the second half.
Luke Meyer and DiLeo led CMU with seven rebonds apiece.
“Tennessee Tech came in here and they really pounded us on the glass, especially in the first half,” DiLeo said. “That was kind of good for us, a reality check. Just because we’ve won a couple games, they’re not going to come in here and roll over. It was nice to pull out the win even though we might have struggled.”
Curtis Phillips scored 14 points to lead Tennessee Tech, which lost its third straight game.
The Chippewas took the lead for good, 39-37, on two DiLeo free throws with under a minute to play in the first half. CMU led by as many as eight points in the second half, but could never get comfortable.
Tennesse Tech drew within a point, 70-69, on a Mason Ramsey jumper with 27 seconds to play. Williams, however, completed a three-point play with 13 seconds left and DiLeo made a free throw with under 2 seconds remaining to ice it.
The game provided the Chippewas with a very good test as they faced a talented opponent that refused to wilt despite playing its third road game in a week.
While the Chippewas have won their share of blowouts through nine games, they are 4-1 in games decided by seven points or less. The loss came at Michigan, 72-65. And for a CMU team that had so many new faces and veteran players filling unfamiliar roles as it entered the season, there are plenty of good signs, Davis said.
“Sometimes you have to go through that learning process and take your (losses) because of it, but our guys have been able to find ways to win,” he said. “And I think the thing that has helped make our guys special is that when we come back to the practice court, they’ve treated those mistakes with a great deal of focus to try to improve upon them.”
“We understand we’ve got some areas that we’ve improved upon, but we also know that we’ve got a ways to go in a lot of areas too. If we keep that attitude I’m looking forward to seeing what this team is all about.”
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