Men's Basketball takes close loss against Detroit Mercy
Despite a back and forth first half between the Chippewas and the Titans, it was Detroit Mercy who took charge in the game's last five minutes.
The Titans came out on top on their home court beating CMU 89-75, sending the Chippewas home with their eighth straight loss.
The Chippewas fall to 1-10 on the season going into Mid-American conference play and the Titans improve to 4-7 overall and 2-0 in the Horizon Conference.
The Chippewas are still without key players Aundre Polk and Miroslav Stafl with a knee injury. There is no timeline of when Stafl will return.
The Chippewas kept up with the Titans keeping it in arms reach in the first half as Jermaine Jackson Jr. took the lead from behind the arc. This was Jackson's first game back after missing three games due to the flu.
The Chippewas went on a scoring spree early, taking a five-point lead and holding the Titans scoreless for two minutes. After Madut Akec was fouled two times in a row and had two successful trips to the line, he gave Detroit the lead 29-27. Akec registered five of his 25 points in the first half.
The Chippewas lost their footing, allowing Detroit Mercy to go on a 10-0 run, and continued to have no luck under the basket with less than five minutes to play in the half. Not only was time running out on the game clock, but CMU also found themselves in competition with the shot clock throughout the half.
The Chippewas were finally successful under the basket, scoring five points with under a minute and half to play. CMU shot 43.8 percent from the floor. The Titans answered back, continuing to fire in the basket going into the half 39-34. The Titans shot 8-of-16 from beyond the arc.
Despite the Titans having two 10 point leads early in the second half the Chippewas fought back, shrinking the lead both times to keep them in the game. The Chippewas were able to bring it within three but couldn't quite find a rhythm to tie it with less than five minutes to play.
The Titans took advantage of an unlucky Chippewa basket and Harrison Henderson fouling out as they went on to take the largest lead of the game. The Titans pulled out a 14-point lead to end the game 89-75.
The Chippewas junior guard Oscar Lopez Jr. racked up a double-double scoring 20 points for a team high and 10 rebounds. Cameron Healy had 15 points and shot 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. Freshman Kevin Miller led the team with seven assists.
Senior guard Antoine Davis also finished the game with 25 points and five rebounds. D.J. Harvey led the Titans with 12 rebounds. Akec finished with 10 rebounds completing his fifth double-double this season.
The Chippewas found themselves out rebounded by the Titans 41-35. Detroit Mercy scored 20 points off CMU’s 13 turnovers. The Titans shot 16-of-30 from beyond the arc in the second half. Both teams had seven steals.
The Chippewas will open MAC play at Kent State on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 4:30 p.m.
