Best in the West: Men's basketball claims first Mid-American Conference West Division title since 2010
Members of the CMU mens basketball team gather in excitement as they watch the Kent State vs. Bowling Green following their 85-77 win over Toledo, clinching the MAC West March 3 at McGuirk Arena.
The Central Michigan University men’s basketball team clinched the program’s first MAC West Division title since the 2009-2010 season and punched their ticket to the 2015 MAC Tournament in Cleveland next week with an 85-77 victory over the University of Toledo on Tuesday at McGuirk Arena.
With Bowling Green State University’s loss to Kent State University on Tuesday, CMU can claim the MAC regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament with a win at rival Western Michigan University on Friday.
Following the comeback victory over the Rockets, the Chippewas took turns cutting down the net at the west end of McGuirk Arena as fans cheered.
“We hope the fans remember it for a long time, because we sure are going to,” said junior point guard Chris Fowler. “It was really special to be able to celebrate something like this in front of our home fans.”
The Chippewas finished the season 16-1 at home.
Junior forward John Simons scored a career-high 28 points against UT, but said cutting down the nets was the biggest thrill of the night.
“I want to do whatever I can to help my team, whether I score a ton of points or zero points,” Simons said. “This is a pretty good feeling right now.”
After trailing for most of the first half, the Chippewas used a 12-2 run to claim their first lead of the game and go up 56-46 with 11:20 remaining.
An 8-2 UT run cut CMU’s lead down to 68-64 with less than five minutes to go, but Simons’ eight 3-pointer of the game kept the Rockets out of striking distance.
Simons finished the game with a career-high 28 points and eight rebounds. His eight 3-pointers in CMUs’ win over Toledo is the most of any MAC player during a single game this season.
“Simons has come so far,” said Head Coach Keno Davis. “Playing out of position and now being able to go against centers and play his more true position. He and (Fowler) have been good for each other.”
Fowler finished the division-clinching win over UT with 24 points and seven assists. Earlier this season, Fowler became CMU’s all-time assist leader.
He now has 510 assists and said helping teammates like Simons score is sweeter than notching personal accomplishments.
“It’s great that we are able to accomplish this together,” Fowler said. “We’re excited. We know the magnitude of this. We’re one big family.”
The Chippewas were sluggish to start the game, especially on the defensive end. The Rockets’ 10-0 run early in the first half gave UT a 14-7 lead early at the first media timeout.
Davis said while he was impressed with the way CMU responded, he knows how dangerous the “high-caliber” team like Toledo can be.
“They are definitely one of the teams that could represent (the MAC) in the NCAA Tournament,” Davis said. “For us, we know we can be, too. It will be important for us now to not forget what got us here.”
