Article from http://www.cmuchippewas.com/ .....
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Jordan Bitzer and Robbie Harman combined for 39 points but the Central Michigan men's basketball team had a tough day offensively against rival Western Michigan, shooting 30 percent in a 70-61 loss at University Arena in Mid-American Conference action on Saturday. Harman (20 points) was 6-for-15, including four threes, and Bitzer (19) hit three triples, but it wouldn't be enough to keep the Chippewas' winning streak alive. Bitzer also paced CMU in rebounding with nine. "Our struggles offensively were really our own doing today," head coach Ernie Zeigler said. "We were hurried on some of our possessions and we were a little too hyped up and shot ourselves in the foot with an inability slow down around the basket and hit open shots."
CMU went into halftime trailing by 14, 39-25, as the Broncos shot 60 percent through 20 minutes. The Chippewas hit three treys in 90 seconds to open the second half, immediately cutting the lead to just five, 39-34. The Broncos would respond with a run of their own and pushed their lead to 15, 52-37, with 10:23 remaining, but a 10-0 run by the Chippewas, sparked by six points by Bitzer, pulled the Maroon and Gold back within five with eight minutes left, 52-47. Central's defense would tighten in the final 20 minutes, holding western to just 36 percent from the floor. A Harman three sliced the lead to just three, 60-57, with 2:36 left, but the Broncos would close the game on a 10-4 run to snap the Chippewas three-game winning streak.
"In the second half we did a much better job in transition defense," Zeigler said. "We didn't give up the easy layups or open shots, and we were able to do a better job on the glass in the second half." WMU held a huge advantage inside, boasting a 39-33 rebounding edge and a 32-12 scoring margin in the paint. We couldn't get key stops at some key points, and they were able to get buckets late in the shot clock," Zeigler said. "We weren't able to contain penetration into the lane. They forced help and were able to dump off to wide open players." The loss is CMU's (7-8, 2-1 MAC) first in MAC action and creates an early logjam atop the West Division. The home team has now won 16 of the last 22 meetings between the two in-state foes.
Official Basketball Box Score
Central Michigan vs Western Michigan
1/16/10 2 p.m. at Kalamazoo, Mich. (University Arena)
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VISITORS: Central Michigan 7-8, 2-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 KELLERMANN, Chris... f 1-8 1-6 2-2 1 1 2 3 5 1 0 0 1 22
34 McCLURE, William.... c 1-5 0-0 2-6 5 3 8 3 4 0 2 1 0 26
15 BITZER, Jordan...... g 4-14 3-10 9-10 2 7 9 1 20 2 2 0 1 38
20 HARMAN, Robbie...... g 6-15 4-9 3-6 0 2 2 4 19 2 4 0 3 36
24 WEARY, Antonio...... g 2-2 0-0 0-1 1 0 1 5 4 2 1 0 0 22
02 RASHID, Amir........ 0-6 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 16
05 CRADDOCK, Finis..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
10 SPICA, Marko........ 1-4 0-0 2-2 3 2 5 4 4 0 2 2 0 12
31 THOMAS, Jalin....... 2-3 0-0 0-2 3 1 4 2 4 0 1 0 1 26
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 17-57 8-25 19-31 15 18 33 24 61 7 12 3 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-27 29.6% 2nd Half: 9-30 30.0% Game: 29.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 5-13 38.5% Game: 32.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-12 50.0% 2nd Half: 13-19 68.4% Game: 61.3% 6
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HOME TEAM: Western Michigan 10-6,2-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 McLEMORE, Martelle.. f 3-9 0-3 3-6 1 5 6 3 9 0 5 2 2 29
11 HUTCHESON, Nate..... f 1-5 0-1 2-4 0 1 1 2 4 0 2 0 1 19
24 LAWSON, Donald...... c 6-7 0-0 5-6 2 6 8 2 17 0 0 4 1 35
05 DOUGLAS, Mike....... g 1-5 0-1 6-6 1 2 3 3 8 7 5 0 2 30
23 KOOL, David......... g 6-8 1-1 4-6 1 2 3 3 17 3 2 0 1 35
01 WARD, Demetrius..... 1-5 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 4 0 1 0 0 19
15 WOLF, Alex.......... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 8
25 BROWN, David........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 7
32 CONTEH, Muhammed.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 5
33 WHITFIELD, Flenard.. 4-4 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 5 8 0 0 1 0 13
TEAM................ 2 4 6
Totals.............. 23-47 2-10 22-30 9 30 39 23 70 10 15 7 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-25 60.0% 2nd Half: 8-22 36.4% Game: 48.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 0-4 0.0% Game: 20.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-12 58.3% 2nd Half: 15-18 83.3% Game: 73.3% 5,1
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Officials: Sid Rodeheffer, Bret Wegenke, Rob Kruger
Technical fouls: Central Michigan-None. Western Michigan-None.
Attendance: 4656
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Central Michigan.............. 25 36 - 61
Western Michigan.............. 39 31 - 70
4:39 WMU #33 Fouled Out
00:48 CMU #24 Fouled Out
Points in the paint-CMU 12,WMU 32. Points off turnovers-CMU 13,WMU 12.
2nd chance points-CMU 13,WMU 14. Fast break points-CMU 2,WMU 7.
Bench points-CMU 9,WMU 15. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-CMU 2nd-00:07, WMU 2nd-02:13.
Largest lead-CMU None, WMU by 17 1st-06:57.
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Thomas R. Wolf, Jr. <wmuwolf@gmail.com>