By Staff
Central Michigan University jumped out to a quick 19-point lead and wound up holding on for a 71-67 victory over Marist in the Chippewas' home opener on Sunday.
CMU hit 10 of its first 14 shots in the game and led 29-10 only 11 minutes into the game.
However, the Red Foxes fought back, trimming the Chippewa lead down to 11 at the half, 40-29. Marist whittled CMU's margin down to two points with nine minutes left and the Red Foxes made it a tight game the rest of the way.
Marist's Pierre Monagan went to the line and made one of two free throws with 46 seconds left to make it a four-point game, 71-67. A couple of CMU turnovers, along with some tough offensive boards by Marist, gave the visitors five open 3-point attempts in the game's final 46 seconds before Niles High School graduate Gerrit Brigitha finally pulled down a board for the Chippewas with three seconds left. His rebound all but secured the win but he was fouled and went to the line where he missed the front end of a one-and-one situation.
Brandon Voorhees led the Chippewas with a career-high 20 points, 15 of them coming in the second half. He was 7-for-9 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
A balanced Chippewa attack saw three others hit double figures. Kevin Nelson had 15, including a pair of 3-pointers, Tony Bowne netted 12 and Brigitha 10. Brigitha also pulled down a team-high eight boards.
After a hot start, CMU's shooting cooled off in the second half but the Chippewas still shot over 50 percent for the first time this season at .545.
Marist's Carl Hood had 19 points and Will McClurkin had a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards for the Red Foxes.
Marist ended up shooting 36 percent from the floor and just 18 percent from three-point range going 4-for-22.
Central Michigan hosts Bradley Wednesday before traveling to Notre Dame on Saturday.
Central Michigan….71
Marist…………………67
CMU: Brandon Voorhees 7 2-3 20, Tony Bowne 4 2-2 12, Gerrit Brigitha 3 4-5 10, T.J. Meerman 0 0-0 0, Kevin Nelson 6 1-3 15, Sefton Barrett 2 1-2 5, Robert Sevalia 0 2-2 2, Tom Pantlind 0 0-0 0, Joe Carr 0 0-0 0, David Hoskins 1 0-0 2, Adam Dentlinger 1 3-4 5. Totals: 24 15-21 71
Marist: Dennis Young 1 1-2 3, Carl Hood 8 2-2 19, Will McClurkin 6 0-1 12, Pierre Monagan 2 5-6 9, Brandon Ellerbee 1 0-0 2, Will Whittington 1 2-2 5, Miles Orman 0 0-0 0, Jared Jordan 0 0-0 0, Chris Handy 3 0-0 6, Eric Siegrist 2 0-0 6, Kerry Parks 1 3-4 5. Totals: 25 13-17 67
Halftime score: CMU 40, Marist 29
3-point shooting: CMU 8 (Voorhees 4, Bowne 2, Nelson 2), Marist 4 (Siegrist 2, Hood, Whittington). Team fouls (fouled out): CMU 19 (Nelson), Marist 20 (none). Team records: CMU 1-3, Marist 0-4