Offensive woes continue in second straight road loss for men's basketball
Senior guard Rayshawn Simmons looks for an open pass during the game on Dec. 22, 2015 in McGuirk Arena. CMU defeated Howard 72-52.
The Central Michigan men's basketball team had three 7-0 runs against host Northern Illinois. It was one 9-0 Huskies run, however, that slowed the Chippewas' dash offensively.
After two free throws from senior guard Chris Fowler tied the game at 64 late in the second half, NIU scored nine unanswered points to take a 73-64 lead. CMU could not complete a comeback, as it fell to the Huskies 75-70 Tuesday night in DeKalb, Illinois.
The Chippewas have lost two consecutive games in Mid-American Conference play after a 74-61 loss to Buffalo on Saturday. CMU drops to 9-9 (2-3 in the MAC).
The Chippewas used a pair of 7-0 runs in the first half to build a seven-point lead at the break and led by as many as 14. CMU hit 15-of-28 first-half shots, but was 7-of-22 in the second half, including the pair of late 3-pointers in the final seconds.
NIU was 15-of-19 from two-point range in the second half. The Huskies were also aided by additional runs of 16-1 in the first and second halves and 14-1 in the second half.
“(NIU) played really well in stretches and made a lot of key shots," said Head Coach Keno Davis. "We did a nice job of guarding them from the 3-point line the entire game and we guarded them well from the free-throw line.”
CMU trailed by as much as nine, while also going 7:49 without a field goal at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half.
After Fowler's game-tying foul shots, NIU leading scorer Marin Maric converted a layup and added a free throw to put the Huskies up three. A jumper from Travon Baker and a layup from Michael Orris pushed the lead to 71-64. Four NIU free throws sealed the win for the top team in the MAC West (14-3, 4-1 MAC).
“We've got to get better defensively," Davis said. "We know that. We weren’t going to be able to solve that in two days. Can we solve it in the next month and a half so that we’ve got a great chance to make a run in this conference tournament? That is yet to be seen.”
CMU trailed 59-50 when two free throws each from senior guard Rayshawn Simmons and junior guard Braylon Rayson and a basket and free throw from sophomore forward Luke Meyer notched CMU's final 7-0 run.
The Chippewas led 33-26 when a 3-pointer from Simmons extended the lead to 10. A layup by Rayson from Fowler and a dunk Meyer pushed the lead to 14, its largest of the game. The trio contributed to two 7-0 runs for CMU.
The first half saw CMU shoot 6-of-17 from the 3-point line, including two from sophomore guard Josh Kozinski, two from senior forward John Simons and one each from Simmons and Fowler.
CMU also held on to an early 19-16 lead when Rayson hit an off-balance jump shot and five consecutive points from Simmons, the latter a 3-point play, gave CMU its first 7-0 run.
Four players were in double figures for the Chippewas, who were led by Fowler's 16 points. Meyer was one point and one rebound away from a double-double.
“We have a very high standard for Chris," Davis said of Fowler. "Chris isn’t at full strength yet. His timing is off. As his timing goes, we’re going to get better.”
Baker had a game-high 19 points for the Huskies.
CMU will return home to face Ohio at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at McGuirk Arena.
