Men use defense to beat Marygrove
John BrumbaughA depleted men's basketball team defeated Marygrove College 75-55 Saturday at Rose Arena in the team's only exhibition game before regular season play.
Playing without freshman guard Adrian Hunter (suspension), senior forward Marcus Van (suspension), junior guard Jordan Bitzer (academic suspension) and junior forward Marko Spica (ankle) the team relied on its defense to get past the Mustangs.
The Chippewas held the Mustangs to just 35.1 percent shooting and two shot clock violations in the win.
"Defense is very important," said senior forward Chris Kellermann. "I think we showed spurts where we played really good defense."
Kellermann lead the Chippewas in the victory with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Five of those points sparked a 10-0 run early in the first half to get CMU going.
With the absence of Van and Spica, Kellermann was forced to play center instead of forward.
"The way I've played the four (forward) ever since I got here has always been around the perimeter, so playing closer to the basket is an adjustment," Kellermann said. "And just being stronger and banging with the big guys down low is the biggest adjustment."
The Chippewas held a consistent lead throughout. Senior guard Ryan Thomas shot a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give CMU a 39-24 lead.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Chippewas took control of the game in the second. With about nine minutes remaining in the game, CMU amassed a 30-point lead that proved too much for the Mustangs. The closest Marygrove would come the rest of the way was 18 with about one minute remaining.
Coach Ernie Zeigler thinks the team started to show things the players had been working on in practice.
"I think our guys are starting to really embellish what we've been working on," he said. "It's very pleasing, but we still got a ways to go."
Sophomore guard Jeremy Allen and freshman Antonio Weary each finished with 12 points.
Kellermann said despite the absence of many of its players, he is not worried about the team's consistency.
"We've got a really good team chemistry, I can feel it in practice," he said. "Once these guys come back, it's only going to get better."
CMU's regular season starts Friday as it travels to Princeton. The team's regular season home opener is against Missouri State University at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 17, at Rose Arena.
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