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MOUNT PLEASANT -- Robbie Harman and Jordan Bitzer poured in 22 points each and the defense stiffened down the stretch as the Central Michigan men's basketball team closed out Rose Center with a victory over rival Western Michigan, 74-66, in a critical Mid-American Conference match-up on Saturday. In a back-and-forth contest, Harman finished off a pass from Bitzer on a fast break with six minutes to go, giving the Chippewas (14-14, 8-7 MAC) a 59-58 lead and the Broncos (15-14, 7-8 MAC) would never regain the edge. The Broncos looked like they might take control of the contest as halftime drew near. Harman was on the bench with two fouls and Western Michigan immediately pushed its lead to 10, its largest of the contest. Down 34-24 with 2:05 remaining in the frame, Bitzer sparked a 6-0 run with a pair of jumpers to pull within four at the break, 34-30. WMU's David Cool had nearly half of the Broncos' points in the first half, scoring 15 in the frame and a game-high 31 in the contest.
After falling behind by seven early in the second frame, the Chippewas took a 47-45 lead on a Bitzer trey seven minutes in. The two teams traded buckets for the next six minutes, setting up Bitzer and Harman's tag team for two that gave the Chippewas the lead for good. A pair of Marko Spica layups in the final 75 seconds helped hold the Broncos off. WMU was just 1-for-6 from the field with two turnovers in the final six minutes CMU connected at 52 percent in the second half and 46 in the contest, 35 percent from long range (6-for-17). WMU shot 43 percent from the field and 31 percent from deep (5-for-16). The two teams each snared 33 rebonds, but the Chippewas turned the ball over just seven times, compared to 15 by the Broncos. Bitzer finished with a double-double, snaring a game-high 10 boards, and dished out four assists. Harman's three-pointer with 8:35 left in the first half also established a new CMU single-season record. He finished with four treys in the game and now has 97 on the year.
It was the final regular season basketball game in the history of Rose Center. Senior Day and Alumni Day, which saw three decades of former Chippewas in attendance, highlighted the afternoon. CMU will open a new Events Center in time for next basketball season. The Chippewas' victory, along with an Eastern Michigan victory and Ball State loss on Saturday, created a three-way tie atop the West Division entering the regular season's final day on March 4. CMU and EMU will square off with the winner claiming at least a share of the division crown, while BSU travels to face WMU. With a win, CMU could finish as high as the no. 2 seed and earn a bye in the first round of the MAC Tournament. A loss would mean the Chippewas will host a first round game against a yet to be determined opponent.
Official Basketball Box Score
Western Michigan vs Central Michigan
02/27/10 noon at Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Rose Center)
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VISITORS: Western Michigan 15-14, 7-8 MAC
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 2-6 1-4 0-0 0 4 4 4 5 0 2 1 0 26
11 HUTCHESON, Nate..... f 2-3 0-0 0-2 2 3 5 1 4 0 1 1 0 14
24 LAWSON, Donald...... c 1-3 0-0 0-2 1 3 4 1 2 0 1 0 1 33
05 DOUGLAS, Mike....... g 3-3 2-2 0-0 0 1 1 3 8 3 3 0 0 29
23 KOOL, David......... g 8-19 1-4 14-14 1 3 4 2 31 5 6 0 0 39
01 WARD, Demetrius..... 0-5 0-2 3-4 1 3 4 4 3 0 2 0 1 21
15 WOLF, Alex.......... 1-2 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 14
25 BROWN, David........ 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
32 CONTEH, Muhammed.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
33 WHITFIELD, Flenard.. 3-4 0-0 2-2 0 4 4 5 8 0 0 1 0 18
TEAM................ 2 4 6
Totals.............. 20-47 5-16 21-26 8 25 33 21 66 8 15 3 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7% 2nd Half: 10-23 43.5% Game: 42.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 31.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-14 78.6% 2nd Half: 10-12 83.3% Game: 80.8% 2
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HOME TEAM: Central Michigan 14-14, 8-7 MAC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 FORD, Brandon....... f 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7
21 KELLERMANN, Chris... f 0-2 0-0 0-0 3 1 4 2 0 0 1 1 0 16
15 BITZER, Jordan...... g 7-17 2-6 6-7 1 9 10 2 22 4 0 2 1 38
20 HARMAN, Robbie...... g 7-18 4-11 4-5 1 2 3 3 22 4 1 0 3 33
24 WEARY, Antonio...... g 3-3 0-0 3-6 2 1 3 3 9 0 1 0 2 30
00 SAYLOR, Zach........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
02 RASHID, Amir........ 2-5 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 1 5 3 3 0 2 19
10 SPICA, Marko........ 4-6 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 8 0 1 0 0 15
25 JORDAN, Nick........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
31 THOMAS, Jalin....... 2-4 0-0 2-5 1 1 2 1 6 0 0 0 1 24
34 McCLURE, William.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 4 2 0 0 2 1 17
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 26-57 6-17 16-25 11 22 33 18 74 11 7 6 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3% 2nd Half: 15-29 51.7% Game: 45.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-9 11.1% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 35.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-11 63.6% 2nd Half: 9-14 64.3% Game: 64.0% 4
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Officials: Glenn Mayborg, Steve McJunkins, Dave Cronin
Technical fouls: Western Michigan-None. Central Michigan-None.
Attendance: 3504
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Western Michigan.............. 34 32 - 66
Central Michigan.............. 30 44 - 74
WMU #33 Whitfield foul out with 00:10 remaining (2nd half)
Points in the paint-WMU 24,CMU 34. Points off turnovers-WMU 11,CMU 15.
2nd chance points-WMU 10,CMU 8. Fast break points-WMU 2,CMU 6.
Bench points-WMU 16,CMU 21. Score tied-7 times. Lead changed-6 times.
Last FG-WMU 2nd-00:04, CMU 2nd-00:53.
Largest lead-WMU by 10 1st-03:54, CMU by 10 2nd-00:10.
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Thomas R. Wolf, Jr. <wmuwolf@gmail.com>