By Staff
Bad habits are hard to break.
The Central Michigan University men's basketball has been making a habit of falling behind early in games before making a tremendous comeback only to fall short in the end.
That was the case again on Wednesday night as the host Toledo Rockets posted an 83-71 Mid-American Conference victory over the Chippewas in Savage Hall.
Toledo (9-2, 3-0 MAC) went on an 18-0 run over a six-minute stretch to take a 29-16 lead midway through the first half and the Rockets extended the lead to as many as 21 in the opening frame. The Chippewas (3-9, 0-2 MAC) trailed 50-31 at the half but opened the second on a 23-5 run to get back into it.
CMU tied the score at 58 on a monster driving dunk by freshman David Hoskins with 10:32 remaining. He was fouled on the play but missed his free throw that would have given CMU its first lead since the opening minutes of the game.
Missed free throws played a key role in the Toledo win as the Chippewas shot just 53 percent from the line in the second half (10-for-19).
It was nip-and-tuck for the next seven minutes as Tony Bowne gave the Chippewas their only lead in the second half when he hit a three-pointer to make it 64-63 with 8:54 left.
The Rockets made all six of their free throws in the final four minutes and made some key defensive stops limiting the Chippewas to just two points during the stretch.
Gerrit Brigitha continued his hot play with a game-high 29 points on 10-for-14 shooting. It tied his career high that he set just over a week ago against Tri-State.
The Rockets had two 20-point scorers with Sammy Villegas posting a double-double of 27 points and 12 boards and Keith Triplett adding 21.
Hoskins tied a career high as well with 16 points and five boards. Bowne added 11 off the bench and Nelson tallied 10 while struggling with his shot (3-for-10).
Point guard T.J. Meerman handed out six assists without a turnover.
Toledo outrebounded CMU by just two, 39-37, after the Chippewas entered the game averaging seven boards less than the opponent.
The Chippewas return home on Saturday to host Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m.
Toledo…………………83
Central Michigan….71
Toledo: Anton Currie 0 0-0 0, Allen Pinson 2 0-1 4, Justin Ingram 2 2-2 7, Chauncey Shelton 2 2-2 6, Keith Triplett 9 0-0 21, Rashay Russell 0 0-0 0, Sammy Villegas 8 6-6 27, Keonta Howell 1 0-0 3, Kareen Milson 0 0-0 0, Florentino Valencia 2 0-0 4, A.J. Shellabarger 4 3-4 11, Ricardo Thomas 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30 13-17 83
CMU: Marcus Moore 0 0-0 0, Gerrit Brigitha 10 9-12 29, David Hoskins 7 0-1 16, T.J. Meerman 1 0-1 2, Kevin Nelson 3 3-7 10, Sefton Barrett 0 0-0 0, Robert Sevalia 1 0-0 3, Brandon Voorhees 0 0-0 0, Tony Bowne 4 0-0 11, Steve Harris 0 0-0 0, Joe Carr 0 0-0 0, Adam Dentlinger 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 12-21 71
Halftime score: Toledo 50, CMU 31
3-point shooting: Toledo 10 (Villegas 5, Triplett 3, Ingram, Howell), CMU 7 (Bowne 3, Hoskins 2, Nelson, Sevalia). Team fouls (fouled out): Toledo 22 (none), CMU 18 (none). Team records: Toledo 9-2 (3-0 MAC), CMU 3-9 (0-2)
Brigitha earns weekly MAC award
Central Michigan University men's basketball player Gerrit Brigitha, a Niles High School graduate, has been named the Mid-American Conference "Scholar-Athlete of the Week."
The 6-8 center averaged 27.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in two games last week while shooting .913 from the floor. The senior was 21-for-23 in field goal attempts. Brigitha tallied a career-high 29 points on 12-for-12 shooting in a win over Tri-State and then followed that up with the second-best game of his career, a 26-point effort on 9-of-11 shooting against Marshall The senior ranks in the top 10 in the MAC in both scoring and rebounding and he leads the league in field goal percentage (.531).
Brigitha has a 3.14 grade point average with an English major.
The MAC "Scholar-Athlete of the Week" honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition. The winners are selected by one of the conference's faculty athletic representatives.