Webber scores 30 in exhibition
Mike Dzikowski
However, the rest of the Chippewas kept passing to an open Webber, who finished with 30 points in CMU’s 97-82 exhibition victory over Basketball Unlimited.
“The guys were being unselfish and passing the ball. Like I have said, when a leader does that it kind of rubs off on everyone else and that showed tonight. Whitney Robinson, J.R. Wallace and even Chris Kaman passed the ball well tonight. I just benefited from their passes,” Webber said.
CMU came out hot,0 building a 29-12 lead before Unlimited mounted a comeback, cutting the lead to 32-29 with less than five minutes to go in the first half. Central then took a 10 point lead into halftime, 43-33.
“I am not sure we took a great business approach to this game. I didn’t see the same energy I saw the during first exhibition game and that was a bit disappointing,” said CMU Head Coach Jay Smith. “It may have been because of the competition that was out there. You still try to not play to your level, but beyond that.”In the second half, Central kept about a 10-point lead throughout the half, winning 97-82.
“It was nice to see David go off, that was nice. I think J.R. stepped up big and hit some big shots; Tony Bowne played a good court game and I think T.J. Meerman played a nice game without a turnover,” Smith said. “There were pockets of good stuff that you have to take out of it.”
The Chippewas were with out Chad Pleiness, Mike Manciel and Adam Dentlinger.
“We played without them all week, but it was definitely weird. We got kind of used to this week,” Webber said. “We definitely missed them and we can’t wait to get them back." Pleiness was out with a sprained thumb, while Manciel was out with a bone chip in the right foot, the same right foot he broke forcing him to sit out his second season. Dentlinger is out with an elbow injury. All three are expected back in practice Thursday. “We need to get them back because we need to get into a flow. We had to practice this week. With no subs its tough but we fought through it,” Smith said. J.R. Wallace, who finished with 18 points, three assists, two steals and no turnovers in 25 minutes of action, thought that playing a physical team like Basketball Unlimited was a good warm up. “That is all the stuff you need to go against to get ready for our tough non-conference schedule and to get ready for the MAC season,” he said. The Chippewas open their regular season Sunday when they host Tri-State at 3:30 p.m. The game is part of a basketball doubleheader with the women kicking off their season at 1:30 against Wayne State. “We started practice as a broad thing and now it is coming to a fine point as the beginning of the regular season. Now we have to get focused in on that point and get tuned into all the little things,” Smith said. “We are excited, it is a great opportunity. I am looking forward to tipping this thing off and looking to see where we are as a team.”
