Central Michigan University
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Western Michigan
CMU Men Fall 92-85 at Western Michigan
2/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - With under 2 ½ minutes to play, the Central Michigan-Western Michigan men's basketball game was tied, 77-77.
The Broncos closed with a 15-8 run, handing the Chippewas a 92-85 Mid-American Conference loss at WMU's University Arena.
The loss, CMU's seventh straight at Western, dropped the Chippewas to 14-13, 7-7 MAC. Western is 11-16, 5-9.
Thomas Wilder scored 26 points, Tucker Haymond had 19 and Drake Lamont added 18 to lead the Broncos.
The Chippewas got 22 points from Chris Fowler, 18 from Braylon Rayson, and 13 from Luke Meyer.
Lamont split a pair of free throws with 2 minutes, 26 seconds remaining to put Western in front, 78-77, triggering a 10-0 run. The Chippewas went nearly two minutes without scoring.
Rayshawn Simmons finally ended the drought with a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left that drew CMU within 7, 87-80, with 27 seconds left. The Chippewas managed to get within five, 90-85, with 14 seconds to play, but could get no closer.
Western was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line in the final 2:26, and was 14-for-19 in the second half. The Chippewas did not attempt a free throw in the final 20 minutes.
"When it's 19-0 on free throws in the second half, and we did not rely solely on the 3, we went in there," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "19-0 isn't going to win many games.
"I don't think I've ever seen a game where in the second half it was 19-0 and that (team with) zero won. So we've got to get better and we've got use this as a learning tool and try to get better and understand how to make those big plays even when things aren't going your way.
"It was a game that was unique. It wasn't like anything else I've seen."
The game was typical Central-Western. The lead changed hands five times, and there were 12 ties. The Chippewas led for all but a handful of seconds in the first half, and led 44-40 at halftime.
The Chippewas were outrebounded, 39-28, and made 13 of their 31 3-point field goal attempts and were 31-for-66 from the floor for the game. Western was 35-for-62 (56.5 percent) from the field.
DaRohn Scott scored a career-high 10 points and led CMU with six rebounds, while Meyer finished a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor.
"The nice thing about DaRohn and Luke, you've got to remember they're both true sophomores out there and they're only going to get better," Davis said. "While you get as frustrated with them as you with anybody, that's part of growing up and becoming a better player -- the time and the experience that you need.
"They came in (to CMU) as under-recruited, undervalued guys and part of that is that they were guys on the come, guys who really have bright futures ahead of them even if they weren't highly valued coming out of high school. I love them. I think they're going to be really good players that are giving us great effort each and every night."
The Chippewas remained tied for second place in the MAC West with Northern Illinois and Toledo, two games behind Ball State. CMU has four games remaining, beginning with a Tuesday home game against Northern Illinois (18-9, 7-7).
The remainder of its schedule includes trips to Toledo and Ball State, and a rematch with Western at McGuirk Arena on March 4.
