Box Score
Season Stats
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. ? Sefton Barrett hit a jumper with 1:47 remaining to give Central Michigan a one-point lead that they would hang on to and defeat Western Michigan, 71-66, in front of 3,374 at Rose Arena.
With the Broncos (11-14, 6-6 MAC) trailing by two, 65-63, Andre Ricks hit a three-pointer with 2:11 remaining to give his team the lead, 66-65, but that would be the last points of the game for the Broncos.
After Barrett's jumper, WMU had a chance to regain the lead, but Joe Reitz was called for an offensive foul. The Chippewas (10-14, 5-7 MAC) missed a jumper on their next possession, but picked up two offensive rebounds before Giordan Watson converted a jumper to push the lead to three, 69-66, with only 63 seconds remaining.
WMU missed shots on each of its next two offensive opportunities and CMU hit 2-of-4 free throws to account for the final margin.
Central Michigan started out fast and took a seven-point lead, 16-9, just over six minutes into the game. Western Michigan came back and cut the lead to three, 27-24, on a Ricks' three-pointer with 7:22 to go in the half, but the Chippewas answered back with a 12-3 run over 3:50 to go up by 12 points, 39-27, with 3:16 remaining.
The Broncos responded with a run of their own by outscoring the Chippewas 20-2 over a nearly eight-minute span at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half to take their largest lead of the game, 47-41, with 14:13 remaining.
The lead stayed with WMU for almost the next six minutes before CMU fought back to take a four-point lead, 58-54, with 7:41 to go. Western Michigan responded with six straight points to regain the lead, 60-58, with 5:46 to go only to see Central Michigan tie the game on a pair of free throws 21 seconds later.
The game would see two ties and four lead changes in the final five minutes capped by Barrett's jumper.
Five Broncos scored in double figures with Redell, David Kool and Shawntes Gary leading the way with 12 points. Reitz added 11 points and Ricks scored 10 for the Brown & Gold.
WMU shot 43.2%, but only 36.4% in the second half, while CMU shot 44.4% for the game and 41.7% in the second half.
The game also saw a lot of fouls with a combined total of 47 called in the game. WMU went 21-of-28 (75.0%) at the line and CMU hit 20-of-25 (80.0%).
Central Michigan outrebounded the Broncos, 37-26, including a 16-8 edge on the offensive glass. The Broncos also turned the ball over 19 times and were outscored 30-14 in points in the paint.
Barrett and Watson led the Chippewas with 24 points and 22 points, respectively.
The Broncos take a step out of Mid-American Conference play on Saturday at 4 p.m. when they host Valparaiso in an O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters game at University Arena.
