Central Michigan University
Texas Southern
Late Surge Lifts CMU Men
12/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Depth, poise, hot shooting, and some crunch-time defense.
Central Michigan used that combination down the stretch Saturday in wrestling away a 79-71 non-league men's basketball victory over Texas Southern before 2,492 at McGuirk Arena.
Braylon Rayson hit 6-of-9 3-pointers en route to 22 points, Chris Fowler finished with 20 points, and Luke Meyer added 12 as the Chippewas won their second straight game, improving to 5-4.
"We started off the game with the right focus, the attention to detail, and we got off to a little bit of a lead," said Fowler, who, in his second game since returning from an injury, also had six assists and finished 7-of-9 from the floor. "We lost that, lost that focus, that attention to detail, and we got it back in the last 10 minutes of that game and we were able to get on a run."
Derrick Griffin scored 23 points and hauled down 13 rebounds to lead the Tigers (1-8), who, despite their record, gave the Chippewas all they could handle.
The game was tied nine times and the lead changed hands 10 times, the last on a Rayson triple that put CMU up, 63-62, with 7 minutes, 49 seconds remaining.
The triggered a 16-9 game-closing run for the Chippewas.
"They're a good basketball team," Fowler said of Texas Southern. "Their record doesn't show it right now because they've played every game on the road. In their conference they're picked to win for a reason. They went to the NCAA Tournament last year for a reason.
"They're tough, they play hard, they make some difficult shots. Getting a win against an NCAA Tournament team, regardless of the record that they have, it's always big for us."
The Chippewas made a season-high 14 3-pointers and finished 56 percent from beyond the arc. Overall, the Chippewas made 28 of their 50 field goal attempts. Both their overall shooting percentage (56 percent) and 3-point percentage were season-bests.
Rayson and John Simons hit 3-pointers during CMU's late game-breaking surge, and Fowler scored twice on drives through the lane left open by defenders forced to honor the outside exploits of Rayson and Simons.
"When those guys start hitting shots, you can't help on defense anymore, and that opened up the lane for me and I was able to make a couple nice moves, finish at the basket," said Fowler, who logged 38 minutes after putting in 25 on Monday in his return to the lineup.
The Chippewas held Texas Southern to 3-of-13 shooting in the final 7:16.
CMU was whistled for 19 fouls to Texas Southern's 17. At least eight of CMU's fouls came on the offensive end.
"Credit our guys for being able to not get frustrated in a game that was unique in the way that it was called and in the way that it was played," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "We have to learn from that. We have to understand that every game's going to be different and we have a senior-laden group that's got to be able to respond and our thought our guys did well tonight."
Texas Southern outrebounded the Chippewas, 38-27, and 18 of the Tigers' boards came on the offensive end. But just four of those offensive rebounds came in the second half, during which CMU played the Tigers to a 15-15 draw on the boards overall.
Texas Southern led, 38-35, at the break. CMU outscored the Tigers, 44-33, in the final 20 minutes.
"I think in some of those early games (this season) where we were short-handed, we just ran out of steam," Davis said. "And now I think we look at our team, if we're able to stay healthy, that we might be the deeper team than most teams that we face, and that's what you want the last few minutes, to be able to be fresh.
"I think the combination of having more bodies and also having a regular rest time is something that's going to benefit us going forward."
