Rayson, Fowler power men's basketball to win over Texas Southern
Junior guard Braylon Rayson dribbles past a defender at McGuirk Arena on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015.
In the first Saturday afternoon game of the 2015-16 season, the fans at McGuirk Arena saw glimpses of the 2014-15 Central Michigan men's basketball team.
Junior guard Braylon Rayson made six 3-pointers, senior guard Chris Fowler drove to the basket and CMU defeated Texas Southern 79-71.
CMU improves to 5-4 with the win. After trailing 38-35 at halftime, the Chippewas outscored the Tigers 36-28 in the second half to seal the win.
“We have a senior-laden group that’s got to be able to respond and I thought our guys did well so tonight," said CMU Head Coach Keno Davis.
The Chippewas won a whistle-laden game in which the officiating crew of Jeff Albright, Brad Gaston and Geoff Vejsicky issued 36 personal fouls, including 19 to CMU.
Davis said his team was able to adjust to the officiating to get some of the offensive foul calls that were going against CMU on the other end.
“Credit our guys for being able to not get frustrated in a game that was unique in the way it was called, the way it was played," said CMU Head Coach Keno Davis. "We have to understand that every game is going to be different."
The Chippewas trailed 62-58 when a pair of free throws by Fowler cut the deficit to two. Rayson hit a 3-pointer to give CMU a one-point lead heading into a media timeout.
Out of the media timeout, Rayson hit another three to push the lead to 66-62.
“I spend days in the gym working on my shot," Rayson said.
After a 3 from senior forward John Simons gave CMU a 71-66 lead, Rayson picked up his fourth foul with 3:59 left.
Fowler then commanded the CMU offense. The senior used two drives to put the Chippewas ahead 76-69 with 1:41 left. An alley-oop from Fowler to senior guard Austin Stewart electrified the crowd and put an end to a possible Tigers comeback.
“We got a lot of trust in all our guys and a lot of trust in what we do," Fowler said.
CMU jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first minutes of the game. Sophomore forward Luke Meyer hit two 3-pointers and led the team with 10 points at the break, but the Texas Southern grabbed 14 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
The Chippewas held the Tigers to four offensive rebounds in the second half.
“If we could hold our own rebounding, we had a great chance to win," Davis said. "That was the key in the second half. We didn’t beat them on the boards, but we held our own.”
Fowler played in 38 minutes and scored 20 points while dishing out six assists and pulling down six rebounds. He said his team was more composed in the second half.
“We started off the game with the right focus and the right attention to detail. We lost that. We got it back in the last 10 minutes of the game and we were able to go on a run.”
Rayson led CMU with 22 points and was 6-of-9 from the 3-point line. The Chippewas were 14-of-25 from behind the arc, with 3's making up exactly half of their total field goals made and field goals attempted.
“Shooters have good nights and bad nights, but those shooters when they have bad nights are able to still score because they are able to get to the basket," Davis said. "Braylon knows that and he wants to be a great scorer.”
Texas Southern (1-8) was led by Derrick Griffin's 23 points and 13 rebounds. The redshirt freshman also stars as a wide receiver on the Texas Southern football team, where he caught 36 passes for 709 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“He’s going to have a nice professional career in something," Davis said. "Whether it’s football or basketball, I think when you see that kind of intensity and athleticism I’m sure you will be seeing him someday but I hope it will be on TV.”
Griffin was a five-star wide receiver recruit that was supposed to play for the Miami Hurricanes, but was academically ineligible. Saturday game was his third game for the Tigers basketball team and is averaging 19.67 points per game.
Texas Southern has not played a home game this season. The Tigers were picked to finish first in their conference by the Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason poll.
“They’re a good basketball team," Fowler said. "They were in the NCAA Tournament last year for a reason. They play tough.”
Davis said he was happy that his team could get a win before finals week. The Chippewas' next game is at Brigham Young at 9 p.m. EST on Dec. 18 in Provo, Utah.
