Toledo misses game-winning 3-pointer as time expires, CMU moves up in MAC standings
As the final stragglers of the 5,629-person crowd filed out of Savage Arena, the top two players exchanged greetings.
Central Michigan men’s basketball senior Chris Fowler shook hands with Toledo senior center Nathan Boothe. Fowler was upbeat, Boothe was tired.
And the difference was two points.
After senior guard Rayshawn Simmons hit the first and missed the second free throws with five seconds to go, the Rockets hurried down the court. Sophomore guard Stuckey Mosley missed a 3-pointer — as his team was out of timeouts — and CMU escaped with its third road win of the season 76-74.
Fowler and senior guard John Simons led the team with 20 and 19 points respectively, however it was sophomore forward DaRohn Scott with the momentum-shifting play in the final minute.
After Simmons missed a layup, Scott wrestled away the offensive rebound with 21 seconds to go, up one. Instead of passing the ball out — as half of the players on the bench instructed — Scott hit a short jump shot.
“I was not thinking about passing the ball out,” Scott said. I got the offensive rebound, so it was going in the bucket.”
On the play before, Boothe hit a 3-pointer in Scott’s face. Boothe finished with 23 points and seven rebounds. Scott said he needed to make for it on the offensive end.
He finished with four points, three rebounds and three blocks. CMU outrebounded Toledo 34-33 on Saturday after being outrebounded in its previous nine games.
“You love the effort that he gives,” said Head Coach Keno Davis. “For him to have the game-winning bucket, that’s pretty special because he deserves it as hard as he’s worked.”
Davis said the win "definitely has to rank at the top this year.”
Playing with four fouls
Fowler picked up his fourth foul of the day with 12:27 to play. After sitting briefly, he finished off the game on the court for CMU.
“I didn’t want to have him sitting on the bench with three, four minutes left and not have an opportunity to win,” Davis said. “Felt like we needed him on the court and fortunately he came up big on some unbelievable plays.”
Davis said the team’s been in a similar situation with Fowler throughout the guard’s four years at CMU.
CMU’s other two starting guards, junior Braylon Rayson and senior Rayshawn Simmons, had a combined two points when Fowler hit the bench. They stepped up in Fowler’s absence, finishing with a combined 16 points.
Moving up in the MAC
The Chippewas entered a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference with the win. A loss would have dropped them into a two-way tie for seventh.
CMU goes on the road to Ball State (19-10, 10-6 Mid-American Conference) Tuesday before finishing the regular season on Friday at home against Western Michigan (11-17, 5-10 MAC).
It was CMU’s second consecutive win and fifth straight against Toledo.
“It’s going to feel good to get on the bus. We’ll probably talk to one another,” Fowler said. “We’ll have some fun, we’ll laugh, we’ll probably put on a movie and enjoy this one. As a senior, I don’t have many left. I have one guaranteed road trip left for myself. We’re going to enjoy it and have a lot of fun.”
