Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Men Fall To Central Michigan, 88-83
1/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Marshall Men Fall To Central Michigan, 88-83
1/2/2005
Joe Miles Scored A Career-High 21 Points Vs. Central Michigan Photo by Matt Riley |
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ? Chippewa guard Sefton Barrett scored a career-high 27 points to lead Central Michigan to an 88-83 win over Marshall in Mid-American Conference men?s basketball action Sunday afternoon at the Cam Henderson Center.
Marshall falls to 2-8, 0-2 in the MAC, while Central Michigan improves to 6-4, 1-1 in league play.
Central Michigan beat the Herd Sunday in a very close game ? the score was tied eight times and the lead changed hands 16 times ? by making 76% of its free throws (20-26) and 62.3% of its three-point opportunities (12-19), including 7-of-7 in the second half. Meanwhile, the Herd, who had been a good free throw shooting team heading into the game, shot only 64.1% from the charity stripe (25-39), with eight of those misses coming in the first half. Marshall out-rebounded CMU, 39-32, and out-shot the Chippewas, 51% to 48.3% for the game.
?Central Michigan shot the ball extremely well, especially in the second half,? said Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa. ?That was the biggest part of the game.?
Marshall had its biggest lead of the game at the 4:53 mark of the first half, when the Herd led 34-24. Central Michigan chipped away at the MU advantage, and at the half, trailed by only four, 39-35. The Herd failed to expand its lead by missing eight free throws, and two front-ends of one-and-one bonus opportunities in the first half.
CMU started the second half on a 5-0 run in the first 1:13 to give the Chippewas their first lead since early in the game. Marshall responded, and the two teams battled it out, back-and-forth, for the next 11 minutes. At the 7:01 mark, CMU?s Drew Walker knocked in a lay-up to make the score 65-64, a lead the Chippewas would never relinquish. Marshall stayed within range, and had a chance to tie the game with 13 seconds remaining down three, 84-81, but Ronny Dawn?s (Fort Thomas, Ky.) three-point attempt rattled off the back iron. Down the stretch, CMU made 8-of-10 foul shots to keep the Herd at bay.
For the Herd, Mark Patton (Barboursville, W.Va.) scored a career-high 21 points to go along with ten rebounds, Joe Miles (Forestville, Md.) continued his double-digit scoring streak with a career-high 21 points, and David Anderson (Levittown, P.R.) tallied the second double-double of his Marshall career with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Besides Barrett?s 27 points, CMU guard Kevin Nelson scored 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting, 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, and 5-for-5 at the charity stripe. Giordan Watson also added 15 points.
?They were hot and made all seven of their three?s in the second half,? said Patton. ?We also gave up 88 points, and we can?t give up that many points. We needed to play better defense and make our free throws today. We missed 14 free throws.?
The Herd continue MAC play with a game against Bowling Green in the Henderson Center Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
