15-9, 6-6MAC
Central Michigan
18-5, 8-4MAC
Fowler's Late Free Throw Sinks Bulls, 75-74
2/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – Central Michigan guard Chris Fowler broke a 74-74 tie with a free throw with 8.0 seconds left as the visiting Chippewas defeated the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, men's basketball team, 75-74, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. The loss was UB's third straight, its longest stretch of the year. UB is now 15-9 on the year and 6-6 in MAC play.
In very similar fashion to the first meeting between these two schools, the Bulls took a big lead into the half, but were outscored 43-29 over the final 20 minutes of action. In the first half, junior Jarryn Skeete broke a 14-14 tie with a three pointer as the Bulls went on a 22-9 run, which was capped off on a three pointer from junior Rodell Wigginton, who rejoined the starting lineup for today's game. A layup from Skeete with five seconds left in the half gave the Bulls the 45-32 lead into the break.
However, in the second half, Central Michigan opened on a 17-2 run, pulling within 49-48 with 14:23 left. The Bulls rebuilt a seven-point lead as a three-pointer from Shannon Evans gave the Bulls a 55-48 advantage, but CMU began to erase the deficit thanks to the long ball from Josh Kozinski. A three from Kozinski pulled the Chippewas within two with 9:18 left and two more three pointers put Central Michigan up 67-61 with 6:52, its largest lead of the game.
The Chippewas continued to hold a six-point lead with 2:47 left as the Bulls made one last run. A layup from junior Justin Moss pulled the Bulls within four, but Fowler went 1-for-2 from the line to put CMU back up by five. Skeete answered with a three pointer with 1:55 left as the Bulls trailed just 74-72 and following a long defensive possession, a turnover by CMU gave UB the easy transition basket, which came from Moss, tying the game up at 74-74 with 38 seconds left.
The Bulls played 30 seconds of solid defense before Fowler was fouled and went to the line. He made the first and CMU got the offensive rebound on the second, but was called for a traveling violation. With seven second left, UB made one last push as Lamonte Bearden dished it off to Xavier Ford inside, but his leaning jumper fell short as time expired.
"I thought our defense was effective in the first half as we held them in the 30's, which we haven't done enough of, but in the first half it was there," said head coach Bobby Hurley. "Second half they shot 65% on us and it's kind of been the same story in the first four or five minutes of the second half we aren't generating any stops."
Skeete led the Bulls with 19 points, hitting on three from behind the arc. He also went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Skeete added two assists and a steal. Moss finished with 13 points, while Ford had his third double-double of the year with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Evans added 10 points and three assists.
Wigginton finished with six points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Bearden, coming off the bench, added six points, three rebounds and four assists. Junior Raheem Johnson had a strong first half as he finished with six points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes of action.
Senior Will Regan added two points and three rebounds, while redshirt freshman Christian Pino saw two minutes in the first half and recorded an assist.
Central Michigan improved to 18-5 on the year and 8-4 in the MAC as the Chippewas were led by 22 points from Fowler and 15 from Kozinski.
The Bulls will now head back to the road for three of their next four games, beginning on Wednesday at Eastern Michigan. Tipoff is at 7:00pm.
