CMU men's basketball drops third-straight with loss at Kent State
Central Michigan's freshman guard Cayden Vasko fights for a basket against Ball State's redshirt junior forward Mickey Pearson Jr. (left) and freshman forward Mason Jones (right) during the game Tuesday, Feb. 27 in McGuirk Arena. Vasko scored six points for the Chippewas. (CM-Life | Ella Miller)
With Central Michigan men’s basketball down one to Kent State, sophomore guard Paul McMillan IV made a layup giving the Chippewas a one point lead with 1:30 remaining in overtime.
CMU then went on a cold spell at the worst possible time as the Golden Flashes were able to go on a 7-0 run to end the game, handing the Chippewas their third straight loss in a final score of 79-73 on Saturday.
The loss brings the Chippewas to an overall 16-12 on the season and 10-6 in Mid-American Conference play.
Both offenses were stagnant through the first 10 minutes of the game as the two teams didn’t combine for 20 points until 10:30 to play in the first half with the score at 14-7.
CMU then went on a 5-2 run opening up its largest lead of the game when a McMillan IV layup made the score 18-9. Kent State would then go on an 11-2 run tying the game at 20 a piece.
The teams traded baskets in the final four minutes of the half, but it would be CMU who headed into halftime with a three-point advantage with the score 28-25.
In the second half both teams traded buckets with neither of the teams being able to pull away. In the final seconds CMU led by two, but a foul on junior guard Anthony Pritchard sent the Golden Flashes to the free throw line.
At the line, junior forward VonCameron Davis made both attempts, tying the game at 64 as the game headed to overtime. In overtime KSU came out on top defeating the Chippewas.
CMU had four scorers with double-digit points but leading the way off the bench was McMillan IV and junior forward Jemal Davis with 16 points apiece.
Pritchard added 14 points along with five rebounds. While graduate guard Brian Taylor had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Though CMU outshot KSU from the field (46% to 38%) it was the three point line that made the biggest difference. The Golden Flashes shot 34% (10-29) from three, compared to the Chippewas 18% (3-16).
With the loss, CMU now drops into the fourth seed in the MAC conference. Now, with two games to play, Central Michigan finds itself needing to win the next two in order to stay there.
The Chippewas will now travel to DeKalb, Illinois where they will take on Northern Illinois which has suddenly turned into a must win game on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
