Roundtree's Three Lifts CMU Over Cal Poly
Friday's MBB Scoreboard
Central Michigan 56, Cal Poly 53
Ohio 96, Mount St. Mary's 77
Bowling Green 83, USC Upstate 74
Valparaiso 77,
Kent State 67
Cornell 80,
Toledo 77
Indiana 87,
Eastern Michigan 67
Stories Courtesy of the Associated Press
Central Michigan 56, Cal Poly 53
Box Score
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Shawn Roundtree hit a 3-pointer with under 4 seconds remaining as the Central Michigan men’s basketball team grinded out a 56-53 victory over Cal Poly on Friday in a semifinal game in the Great Alaska Shootout at Alaska Airlines Center.
The Chippewas (4-1) will play Idaho or Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday (midnight EST) in the tournament title game.
Kevin McKay scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Chippewas, while Luke Meyer added a season-high 15 points and Roundtree had 10. Donovan Fields scored 20 points and Victor Joseph added 19 for Cal Poly (3-3).
The Chippewas made just four 3-pointers on the night, finished 35.8 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 41-32.
“That was something,” CMU coach Keno Davis said. “Really a gut-check performance by our guys. I don’t know how good defensively we are yet, but what a difference a year makes in that we were able to win that game over 40 minutes solely with our defense.
“We didn’t score well, we didn’t execute real well, we didn’t rebound real well, but we came up with enough defensive plays to be able to get the win.”
The Chippewas made just one of their 10 3-point attempts in the first half, yet trailed by just three, 23-20, at the break. The three-point margin of victory matched CMU’s largest lead of the night.
Roundtree came off a double screen at the top of the key and nailed the game-winning triple. The junior guard’s dramatic bucket came seconds after Joseph hit a triple to tie it at 53.
The Chippewas entered the game averaging 86.7 points per game and had twice surpassed the 100-point mark this season.
“Cal Poly, they’re so patient in everything they do, they frustrate you,” Davis said. “A lot of our frustration came because of what they do and how they do it. (Our players) didn’t get their heads down, they kept working on the defensive end.”
Ohio 96, Mount St. Mary's 77
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio -- Mike Laster and Teyvion Kirk each scored 20 points and Ohio cruised past Mount St. Mary's, 96-77 in a nonconference game Friday night.
The Bobcats won one of three games at the Charleston Classic, losing to Clemson and Dayton before battling back from an 18-point deficit to beat Indiana State in quadruple overtime to take seventh place.
Jordan Dartis drilled a 3-pointer to push the Ohio lead to double digits, 25-13 with 11:17 left in the first half and the Bobcats held a 13-point advantage at intermission.
Both teams shot well from the field. Ohio hit 39 of 71 shots from the field (54.9 percent), including 9 of 24 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Mountaineers hit 50 percent of their shots from the floor (31 of 62) and knocked down 11 of 32 attempts from deep.
Junior Robinson scored 21 points and dished 10 assists for Mount St. Mary's.
Bowling Green 83, USC Upstate 74
Box Score
BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- Dylan Frye and Rodrick Caldwell each hit five 3-pointers and Demajeo Wiggins scored 20 points with 12 rebounds as Bowling Green defeated South Carolina Upstate 83-74 Friday in the Creek Classic.
The trio of Falcons combined for 58 points on 19-for-33 shooting -- the team was 29 of 62. Frye scored 20 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range, Caldwell made five of eight from distance to finish with 18 points -- 15 in the final 6:45 -- and seven assists. Wiggins picked up his first double-double of the season, seventh career.
A Caldwell 3 put the Falcons (4-1) ahead 66-63 with five minutes remaining. Caldwell hit two more 3s back-to-back, pushing the lead to 76-68 with 1:28 to go. Frye made five of six free throws and Justin Turner two as Bowling Green closed it out.
Ramel Thompkins led the Spartans (2-4) with 18 points and eight rebounds, Malik Moore scored 16 points, Deion Holmes 13 and Mike Cunningham 12.
Cornell 80, Toledo 77
Box Score
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Matt Morgan scored 24 points and Stone Gettings added 21 points, five rebounds and five assists and Cornell held off a late Toledo rally for an 80-77 win on Friday.
Nate Navigato buried a 3-pointer to with 15 seconds left to bring the Rockets within 78-77 before Morgan made a pair of free throws eight seconds later. Tre'Shaun Fletcher missed a 3-pointer and a chance to tie with three seconds left.
Cornell (2-3) led 46-35 at halftime, and maintained an 11-point lead (76-65) with Josh Warren's layup with 2:56 remaining. But Navigato made the first of his two last 3s, and Jaelan Sanford made a pair of 3s to make it close.
Navigato led Toledo (3-2) with 22 points on 6-for-13 shooting from behind the 3-point arc, Fletcher had 20 with 12 boards -- six on the offensive end -- Luke Knapke had 13 points and Sanford scored 10.
Indiana 87, Eastern Michigan 67
Box Score
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The second half against Eastern Michigan could prove to be the blueprint for the rest of Indiana's season -- but for now, the Hoosiers are just happy to get another win against a quality opponent.
Robert Johnson scored 18 points, Josh Newkirk added 17 points and Indiana won its third straight with a 87-67 win over Eastern Michigan on Friday.
After a first half where the Eagles gave the Hoosiers everything they had and then some, the squad Indiana hopes to be over the next four months began to take shape.
Indiana relied on its depth for a dominating second-half performance.
"I thought for the first time all season, we just dove into the bench regardless of what we were thinking prior to going in and it was a good step in the right direction for our team," Indiana coach Archie Miller said. "That's what we did in the second half tonight was to get guys in there you trusted were just going to play as hard as they could and do what you ask them to do."
Indiana used a 19-3 run, highlighted by Justin Smith's fast-break dunk, over a six-minute stretch in the second half to put Eastern Michigan away.
Freddie McSwain Jr. added 10 points and nine rebounds for Indiana (4-2), while De'Ron Davis scored 11 points.
"Everybody is getting comfortable with the offensive style, the defensive schemes," Newkirk said. "We've just been practicing a lot. I think everybody is feeling more comfortable understanding that we're all helping each other. I think it's coming along."
Elijah Minnie had 20 points and seven rebounds for Eastern Michigan (4-1).
Despite a four-minute scoreless drought, EMU had a brief four-point lead in the first half and was within five points, 42-37, of Indiana at the half.
"The start of the second half we were a little lethargic on offense which results in easy buckets for Indiana," Eastern Michigan coach Rob Murphy said. "Once they got up nine (points), they started to play a little more comfortable."
