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MAC West Mid-Week Report

MAC basketball mid-week recap from January 22, 2009

Ball State 50, Western Michigan 44

The Ball State men’s basketball squad worked their way into a tie atop the MAC West standings on Tuesday night by knocking off previously undefeated Western Michigan. Ball State used an impressive combination of solid team defense and aggressive senior leadership to fight off a scrappy effort from the Broncos.

The Cardinals (8-8, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) held Western Michigan (6-11, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) to a season low 44 points on a night where nothing seemed to be falling for WMU who shot 27.5% (14-51) from the floor.

It became apparent early on that the game would be determined by composure and will power. No player showed more of each than Ball State senior guard Brandon Lampley who was a net-scorching 7-of-8 from the floor for a team leading 16 points. Fellow senior guard Laron Frazier added 10 points and 7 rebounds of his own in the Cardinal win.

Western Michigan senior forward Derek Drews scored a game high 17 points and pitched in 8 rebounds to lead the Broncos on the night. Junior guard David Kool dropped in 11 points of his own for the contest, but was held in check for most of the game finishing 4-of-10 from the field and six points shy of his season average.

Western Michigan held a 32-29 lead with 11:32 left in the contest, but a 16-5 run propelled the Cardinals to a 45-37 advantage at the 3:05 mark in the second half.

Toledo 75, Central Michigan 61

Toledo notched their second consecutive MAC West victory of the year Tuesday night when they knocked off Central Michigan in commanding fashion. With two convincing home victories under their belt the Rockets squad is starting to look less and less like the team that just last week was 0-2 in conference play and sported a 9 game losing streak overall.

The Rockets (4-14, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) were once again led by the dominating senior guard combo of Jonathan Amos and Tyrone Kent who dropped in 17 and 16 points, respectively. Toledo finished with 4 players in double-digits overall and a strong 41-33 advantage on the glass.

Central Michigan (4-12, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) got a pair of 14 point performances from Marcus Van and Jordan Bitzer, but the duo had a sub-par shooting night going just 8-of-23 from the floor.

Toledo held a 37-23 advantage at halftime, but a quick 13-3 Chippewa run cut the led to four points only five minutes into the second half.

The Rockets regained control minutes later with a 10-0 run of their own capped by a powerful dunk from Justin Anyijong who finished the game with an excellent line including 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

Northern Illinois 72, Eastern Michigan 52

Northern Illinois shot a season best 62.8% from the floor Tuesday night in route to a 20 point dismantling of the visiting Eastern Michigan squad. The contest was one-sided from the start with Northern Illinois leading at halftime 35-17.

Four Northern Illinois (6-10, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) players scored in double figures on the night with the most impressive performance coming from sophomore center Sean Kowal who recorded a game-high 20 points. Sophomore guard Darion Anderson continued building on his own reputation as one of the league’s rising talents with a solid 16 point outing on 7-of-9 shooting from the field.

Eastern Michigan (3-15, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) was once again led by their stud sophomore forward Brandon Bowry who scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds in the losing road effort.

Despite the final score Eastern Michigan did make a fast 7-0 run to start the second half, getting as close as 35-24 before being put away for good by a series of quick Northern Illinois runs that left the game at 51-33 with 11:37 remaining in the contest.

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MAC West Weekend Watch

Northern Illinois vs. Central Michigan (Saturday, 3:00 p.m. EST)

Northern Illinois will look to build off of their recent 20 point win over Eastern Michigan when they face Central Michigan in their second consecutive home game. After a disappointing road loss against Toledo the Chippewas will be back on the road hoping to get their second conference win of the season.

Saturday afternoon’s game features two great match-ups. On the inside Central Michigan’s senior forward Marcus Van will battle Northern Illinois’ sophomore center Sean Kowal for an advantage on both the glass and the scoreboard. On the outside we’ll see a talented sophomore guard show-down when Central Michigan’s Jeremy Allen faces-off against the MAC’s 3 rd leading scorer in Northern Illinois’ Darion Anderson.

Northern Illinois is looking to improve to 3-2 in MAC play, while Central Michigan is shooting for a 2-3 conference mark on the year.

Eastern Michigan vs. Western Michigan (Saturday, 4:00 p.m. EST)

Western Michigan will look to rebound from their first conference defeat of the season when they play their second consecutive road game against Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon. If Eastern Michigan is going to be competitive in the contest they’ll need another big game inside from the likes of both sophomore forward Brandon Bowry and junior forward Justin Dobbins, averaging 16.1 and 9.8 points per game on the season, respectively.

In contrast, Western Michigan will likely lean on strong guard play once again, with big-time performances expected from junior David Kool and senior Shawntes Gary, averaging 16.5 and 10.5 points per game, respectively.

Eastern Michigan is searching for their second conference win of the season to move to 2-3, while Western Michigan is hoping to ensure at least a share of the MAC West lead by improving to 4-1 in conference play.

Ball State vs. Toledo (Sunday, 2:00 p.m. EST)

The Ball State Cardinals will look to make another big statement at home Sunday afternoon when they square-off against a Toledo Rockets team that has recently found both success and momentum in conference play.

Ball State will need huge games out of senior guards Brandon Lampley and Laron Frazier who scored 26 out of the team’s 50 points against Western Michigan on Tuesday night.

Toledo will rely on their own experienced guard tandem of senior Jonathan Amos and junior Tyrone Kent to put up the majority of the team’s points as they attempt to grab a rare road victory in conference play.

Ball State will fight to stay atop the MAC West standings by improving to 4-1 in the conference, while Toledo looks to build on consecutive victories and move to 3-2 in the league.

By Damian Caudill
VanDelay Sports Staff Writer
Published January 22, 2009