THE BASICS

Score: Central Michigan 74, Ohio 69

Location: McGuirk Arena - Mount Pleasant, Mich.

The Short Story: Despite shooting nearly 60 percent in the second half and outscoring Central Michigan (15-4, 5-3 MAC) over the final 20 minutes of play, the Ohio men's basketball team (7-12, 2-6 MAC) fell, 74-69, on Saturday (Jan. 31) in a Mid-American Conference clash at McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

OHIO STARTERS: #3 Javarez Willis, #5 Maurice Ndour, #14 Ryan Taylor, #24 Mike Laster, #33 Antonio Campbell  

CENTRAL MICHIGAN STARTERS: #2 Luke Meyer, #4 Rayshawn Simmons, #5 Braylon Rayson, #15 Chris Fowler, #34 John Simons

HOW IT HAPPENED 

- Ohio lost despite outshooting Central Michigan. The Bobcats converted at a 47.1 percent clip (24-of-51) -- including 58.3 percent (14-of-24) in the second half -- while the Chippewas shot 46.4 percent (26-of-56). The Green & White outscored the Maroon & Gold, 38-33, over the final 20 minutes of play. 

 - The Bobcats won the battle of the boards, 34-28, but the Chippewas forced Ohio to commit 16 turnovers, which led to 17 points for Central Michigan.

- Ohio went 16-of-19 from the free throw line for a season-best 84.2 percent clip -- including a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the second half. 

- Redshirt senior guard Javarez Willis (Homer, La.) led the Bobcats with 14 points. He also tallied three rebounds and an assist in 29 minutes.

- Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) added 12 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes.

- Freshman guard Ryan Taylor (Gary, Ind.) also contributed 12 points in addition to two rebounds, an assist and a steal over 35 minutes.

- Senior forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) posted a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with a game-high three blocks as well as a steal in 36 minutes.

- Freshman guard Mike Laster (Detroit, Mich.) added nine points, a rebound, an assist and a steal in 22 minutes. 

- Junior guard Chris Fowler scored a game-high 17 points and distributed a game-high six assists for Central Michigan in addition to three rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes.

- Junior forward John Simons added 16 points, a team-high nine rebounds, two steals and an assist in 35 minutes for the Chippewas.

- Junior guard Austin Stewart contributed 10 points and two rebounds in 15 minutes of work off of the bench for Central Michigan. 

- Redshirt freshman guard Josh Kozinski came off the bench to add eight points and a steal for the Chippewas.

- Junior guard Rayshawn Simmons handed out five assists to go along with four points, two steals and a rebound for Central Michigan.

- Central Michigan shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27) while limiting the Bobcats to 37 percent (10-of-27) from the field in the first half. The Chippewas won the turnover battle over the first 20 minutes, 8-4. Fowler led all scorers with 10 first-half points. Ohio took 13 free throw attempts in the first half, sinking 10 of them (76.9 percent). 

- Simons and Stewart each drained treys over the first four-plus minutes of play to help the Chippewas build a 10-2 lead at the first media break. 

- The Bobcats used two free throws by Ryan Taylor and a trey by Willis to cut Central Michigan's lead to five at 12-7 with just over 14 minutes left in the half. The Chippewas responded with a 7-4 run to take a 19-11 advantage into the second media timeout -- highlighted by a four-point play by Kozinski. 

- The Chippewas extended their run to 12-4 before Campbell drew a foul while converting a layup and sunk the freebie to make it a 10-point game at 24-14 with just over 10 minutes to play. Ohio extended its run to 7-0 after both Ndour and Laster converted jumpers, cutting Central Michigan's lead down to six at 24-18 and forcing the Chippewas to burn a timeout with 8:33 to play in the first half. 

- Central Michigan built its lead back up to 10 on a jumper by Fowler with just over eight minutes to play, but the Bobcats cut Central Michigan's lead back down to six after Ndour converted two attempts from the charity stripe and Willis sliced through the lane for a layup, making it a 29-23 game with just over six minutes to go in the half. 

- The Chippewas forced Ohio to call a timeout after a layup by Fowler two minutes later. Ohio made it a seven-point game when Ndour fed the ball down low to Campbell for a layup, but Central Michigan closed the half out by outscoring the Bobcats, 7-6, over the final three-plus minutes to take a 41-31 lead into halftime.

- The Bobcats weathered an early storm to open the second half after Simons hit a pair of threes to give Central Michigan a 47-33 lead. Ohio answered with a 10-0 run as Ryan Taylor hit a three, Laster sunk two three throws, Willis drained a trey and Ryan Taylor knocked down a jumper to shave Central Michigan's advantage to 47-43 at the first media break of the second half with just over 15 minutes to play. 

- Central Michigan answered Ohio's challenge with a 7-2 run capped by a two-hand slam dunk by freshman forward DaRohn Scott, giving the Chippewas a 54-46 lead with just over 13 minutes to go.

- Ohio used threes by Campbell and Willis to cut Central Michigan's lead back to seven at 57-50 with 11:36 to go. A one-handed jam by Campbell cut the Chippewas advantage back down to four again at 58-54, with 7:43 to play. 

- After two straight turnovers by the Bobcats, junior forward Blake Hibbitts sunk a three to increase Central Michigan's lead to seven again at 61-54. Ndour hit two free throws less than a minute later to make it a five-point affair, but the Chippewas responded again, this time with an 8-2 run to take an 11-point lead at 69-58 with just over two minutes to go. 

- A jumper by Ryan Taylor, two freebies by senior guard Stevie Taylor (Gahanna, Ohio) and a layup off of a steal by redshirt junior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) made it a two-possession game again with 23 seconds left, but a free throw by Kozinski on the ensuing possession for Central Michigan helped seal the win for the Chippewas.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

- Willis finished in double figures for the 11th time this season and 22nd time in his career. He led the Bobcats in scoring for a team-high eighth time in 2014-15.

- Campbell finished in double digits in scoring for the ninth time this season -- including a second straight game and fourth time in the last five games. He has posted double figures 12 times in his career.

- Ryan Taylor tallied his ninth double-digit scoring effort of the season, which matches Campbell for third-most on the season.

- Ndour -- the reigning MAC East Division Player of the Week -- posted his eighth double-double of the year and 12th of his career. He finished in double digits in scoring for a team-high 16th time this season and 41st time in his career. Ndour posted double-digit boards for a team-high ninth time this year and 15th time in his career and led Ohio in rebounds for a team-high 12th time this season. He finished with at least three blocks for the sixth time in the last nine games.

QUOTABLE

First-Year Head Coach Saul Phillips

- "I thought tonight what really put the knife in the back is that we didn't finish at the rim. The number of just absolute missed layups was as large as any game I've seen. We shot a good percentage anyway. If you just make your layups -- that's another five, six shots made -- you're around 60 percent, and you've got a chance to win the game."

Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell  

- "We came out with more energy. We played with a lot more energy, and when we got down by 12 points, we actually didn't give up. We fought back a little bit."

UP NEXT

The Bobcats begin a three-game homestand with a showdown against MAC East Division rival Akron next Wednesday (Feb. 4) at the Convocation Center. The MAC, in partnership with ESPN and Classic Video Productions, will produce the contest, which will be aired on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel in Ohio and New York and nationally on ESPN3. The game time will remain 7 p.m. ET as originally scheduled and will tip off at 7:07 p.m. ET. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free replica Ohio men's basketball jersey.

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