Central Michigan University
Akron
CMU Men Fall Short in Comeback Effort
2/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
AKRON, Ohio - In a game of runs, Central Michigan made one final last-gasp effort.
But the gap simply was too wide.
Akron made 16 of its 32 3-point attempts Friday in holding off the Chippewas, 92-87, in a showdown of Mid-American Conference mens basketball division leaders before 3,829 at the Zips' Rhodes Arena.
The loss ended CMU's win streak at four games and left the Chippewas 13-10 overall, 6-4 MAC. It was the sixth straight win for Akron, 19-4, 8-2, which is 11-0 at home this season.
The Chippewas finished 10-for-32 from beyond the arc, but were simply outgunned by the MAC's leading 3-point-shooting team.
"Really proud of our team's effort," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "When both teams shoot 32 threes and one makes six more … It's an 18-point difference, and to have a chance to win that game and have it not be a blowout is a credit to our team in finding other ways to score.
"It's frustrating to have a team have such a great shooting night against you, but our guys continued to battle and we gave ourselves a chance at the end."
Trailing 47-35 at halftime, the Chippewas opened the second half with an 18-5 spurt and seize a 53-52 lead with under 14 minutes to play.
But Akron answered immediately with a 20-1 onslaught that left the Zips seemingly in command, 74-54, with under eight minutes remaining.
CMU frantically bailed itself nearly out of the hole, cutting its deficit to four, 89-85, with 24 seconds left. But Akron held on, making three of four free throw attempts in the final seconds.
"I think both teams are very similar in their makeup and one of those areas is that we both can get really hot offensively," Davis said. "To start the second half we were knocking down shots, making plays, getting to the basket. And then when they went on their run they couldn't miss.
"We had the last run, just wasn't enough time left to fight back when a team does that to you. It's disappointing to lose, it always is, but I think we also know we can't get too down after one tough road loss. We know there's a lot of basketball left this year."
Josh Williams hit six of his seven 3-point attempts en route to a career-high 22 points to lead the Zips.
Braylon Rayson scored 18 points to lead CMU, which had six players scores in double figures, including John Simons, who finished with 13.
Simons hit a 3-pointer early in the game, giving him 234 for his career and moving him into first place all time in CMU history. He entered the game tied with Robbie Harman, who played from 2007-10, at the top of the list. Harman is now a CMU graduate assistant.
Luke Meyer added 15 points for CMU, Rayshawn Simmons had 14, Josh Kozinski had 12, and Chris Fowler added 11 and eight assists. Simmons finished with seven assists and the Chippewas committed just four turnovers, their second-lowest total of the season.
Simons led CMU with 10 rebounds, while Meyer added eight. Akron outrebounded the Chippewas, 39-36.
The Chippewas won the first meeting with the Zips, 92-81, at McGuirk Arena on Jan. 12. CMU goes to Eastern Michigan (11-11, 3-6) for a MAC game on Tuesday. The Eagles defeated the Chippewas in their first meeting, 99-80, at McGuirk on Jan. 6.
