 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 66, EASTERN MICHIGAN 60 The Chippewas (8-17, 5-7 MAC) claimed the lead for good at the 7:49 mark of the second half on a jumper by Zeigler before the freshman knocked down a three 45 seconds later to extend the lead to 48-43. The Eagles brought the game back within two, 51-49, on a three by Darrel Lampley, but Morris responded with his third 3-point field goal of the game with 4:53 remaining to push the lead back to five, 54-49.
The Maroon and Gold kept the lead at five until Brandon Bowdry knocked down a jumper with 2:01 left to cut the Eagles' deficit to three, 59-56. After a Zeigler free throw, Lampley sank two free throws to make the score 60-58, CMU. Zeigler scored back-to-back layups to seal the victory for the Chippewas.
ZEIGLER SEES MATURATION
"Last night we talked with our team about the fact that we have lost 17 games, and in 12 of those 17 games we were either in the lead late in the second half or we lost by one possession," head coach Ernie Zeigler said. "It's a maturation process, and I think our young guys are starting to understand how important it is to prepare prior to playing. I think you couple that with some toughness, and you're starting to see some things that we've been wanting to do all season."
The first half belonged to Morris, who in just his third-career start, facilitated the offense. The Chippewas went down eight early, 12-4, just six minutes into the game. But they then responded with a 14-3 run sparked by their backcourt.
A thunderous dunk by Antonio Weary , who tied his career-high 10 points, got the run started before Jackson knocked down a jumper at the 12:51 mark. Four minutes later, Andre Coimbra slammed home a dunk, drawing a foul and adding a free throw to cut the EMU lead to three, 15-12.
After a fastbreak layup by Morris and a layup by Zeigler, Morris found Jackson on a backdoor cut for an alley-oop that gave CMU an 18-15 lead with 5:34 to go in the half. Morris then knocked down back-to-back threes and found Zeigler for another fast-break alley-oop to give CMU its largest lead of the game, 26-17.
POINT GUARD PLAY
"John Morris is giving us what we talk about and stress, which is really good point guard play," Zeigler said. "It's really a difference for a team when you have a guard who's trying to run the offense, not trying to make things happen that aren't there and is capable of making open shots when they come back to him."
Zeigler led all scorers, knocking down 11 of his 14 field goal attempts for 24 points. Morris notched a new career high of 11 points, going 3-for-4 from behind the arc and matching his career-high with four assists. Jackson scored 11 points for the Chippewas while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.
The Chippewas shot a season-high 52 percent from the floor (26-for-50) and outscored the Eagles on the fast break, 18-8.
Thompson led the Eagles with 14 points while Bowdry finished with 13, Lampley with 12 and Jamell Harris with 10 points and seven rebounds.
CMU will be back in action, looking to extend its winning streak to three games, when the Chippewas travel to Niagara as a part of ESPN's Annual BracketBuster game Saturday at 2 p.m.
Courtesy of Central Michigan Athletics |
