Central Michigan beats Bowling Green in matchup of top teams in MAC
Central Michigan had not defeated Bowling Green in two years.
The Falcons scored a 97-87 overtime victory over the Chippewas last season in Mount Pleasant in the teams' last meeting.
Just over a year later, and in a battle of division leaders in the Mid-American Conference, CMU defeated BGSU 92-82 on Tuesday in McGuirk Arena.
CMU (13-8, 6-2) maintained its half-game lead over Northern Illinois in the MAC West standings. Additonally, the Chippewas are 11-1 at home on the season.
Chippewa coach Keno Davis recognized the scale of the victory as the Falcons were picked to win the league and had won their previous eight games.
“When you’re playing a team that a lot of people picked to win the conference and you’re able to win, it only reinforces the idea coming in that we’re good enough to be able to beat the top teams or to be the top team," Davis said.
The Chippewas started the first half dominant with senior guard Dallas Morgan’s 16 points and senior forward David DiLeo’s 10 points. In the post, senior guard Kevin McKay added 11 points.
“Even if it’s just my teammates getting up shots, once I see the ball go in, I get myself into a rhythm,” Morgan said.
DiLeo hit a 3-point buzzer-beater against a tight Bowling Green defense to end the first half.
“We knew (Bowling Green) was going to be coming in hot," DiLeo said. "When we got that lead, we knew we had to stay locked in, and obviously it showed by our performance,” DiLeo said.
The Chippewas kept a steady lead throughout the second half, with Bowling Green trying to get a shot up against CMU’s defense.
Morgan lead the Chippewas with 29 points, and DiLeo finished with 26. McKay added 13 points and senior forward Rob Montgomery put up 11 points. As a team, the Chippewas shot 52 percent from 3-point range and 47 percent from the field. CMU missed just two free throws (24-of-26) on the night.
Bowling Green's Justin Turner led all scorers with 31 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. Turner also shot 11-of-11 from the free throw line and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.
DiLeo hit six triples against the Falcons to tie the program 3-point record with Josh Kozinski at 306 made triples.
“I’m not playing for records, I’m playing for dubs,” DiLeo said. “Throughout my career (teammates) have put me in a position to utilize my strengths as a shooter. To be able to tie the record at a school that has had such good shooters in the past means a lot, but it’s done and I’m looking to move on and keep continuing to win games.”
CMU travels to Buffalo for its next game at 9 p.m. Friday in Alumni Arena. The Bulls defeated the Chippewas 86-67 on Jan. 18 in McGuirk Arena.
