CMU men's basketball struggles in loss at Buffalo
The Central Michigan University men's basketball team blows Eastern Michigan out of the water with an 82-63 win on Tuesday, Jan. 14 in McGuirk Arena. (CM Life | Jasmine Brookins)
Going up five with just under five minutes it seemed like Central Michigan Men’s basketball was finally going to pull away from Buffalo. That was until the Bulls went on a 15-4 run to end the game, handing the Chippewas a 75-69 loss.
The loss brings CMU to an overall record of 9-11 on the season and 3-5 in Mid-American Conference play slating the team at eighth in the MAC.
Falling behind 5-0 in the opening minutes, the Chippewas needed a hot hand and that is what they got, as sophomore guard Cayden Vasko opened up the scoring for CMU as he hit three, three-pointers giving the team an early 12-7 lead.
With the teams trading baskets, CMU got things going on offense and started pulling away from the Bulls as it went on a 13-3 run putting the Chippewas up 31-18 after another Vasko bucket.
But the Chippewas couldn’t sustain the offensive output as the team went cold in the final five minutes of the first half, allowing Buffalo to claw back into the game with a 12-3 run of its own to end the half, heading into the break with CMU leading 34-30.
The second half was a completely different story as neither team could open up more than a six-point lead, keeping the game competitive the entirety of the way. The Chippewa's biggest lead of the half came just under halfway through as guard Kyler VanderJagt's back-to-back buckets put CMU ahead 55-49.
Buffalo continued to battle back, never letting CMU pull away as both teams continued to trade baskets eventually with the game becoming knotted up at 67 with under two minutes to play.
The Bulls' offense was the one that was able to heat up in the final minute scoring six points in the last 60-seconds to secure the win.
Offensively, CMU was led by guard Anthony Pritchard, who led the team with 16 points. Two other Chippewas were able to reach double digits as guard Jakobi Heady had 12 and Vasco finished with 11.
On the defensive side of the ball, CMU was able to add nine steals to its season total while forcing Buffalo into 17 turnovers, but it was the offense that shot the team in the foot.
The team had 19 turnovers and struggled to put the ball in the net from behind the three-point arc, shooting 5-19 and an abysmal 10-23 from the free throw line.
CMU also lost the rebound battle 38-36 allowing Buffalo to get 14 offensive rebounds.
The Chippewas will now travel back home to Mount Pleasant as they welcome Bowling Green, who has dropped four straight, to McGuirk Arena at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
