Eastern's Postseason Comes to an End After 69-56 Loss at Columbia

Highlights.

NEW YORK, N.Y. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball saw its 2013-14 season come to an end Saturday, March 22, when the Eagles (22-15) dropped its second round game in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, 69-56, at Columbia University. Columbia (21-12) held EMU to just one field goal in the final 9:10 to stifle the Eagles.

Raven Lee (Detroit, Mich.-Romulus) notched the second-most points in his career after putting up 26 points on 10-of-22 shooting, while Glenn Bryant (Detroit, Mich.-Oak Hill Academy (Arkansas)) finished his collegiate career with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal, while shooting 5-of-7 from the floor. Senior center Da'Shonte Riley (Detroit, Mich.-Country Day (Syracuse)) tied EMU's single season block record with 96 blocks when he swatted a shot late in the second half. The Green and White shot 40.4 percent on 21-of-52 shooting from the floor, while EMU hit five three pointers. EMU had eight steals in the game.

Cory Osetkowski opened the scoring in the first half on a feed from Alex Rosenberg to give Columbia the early lead. Eastern evened up the score, but the Lions went on a five-point run before a three-ball from Karrington Ward (Lockport, Ill.-Lockport Township (Moraine Valley C.C.)) made it a two-point, 7-5, deficit for EMU. Isaac Cohen put in a bucket for Columbia, giving the Lions a four-point edge but four straight points from Glenn Bryant knotted things up at nine points each.

The Lions spouted off a 13-4 run, taking its largest lead of the first half, 22-13, with 7:27 remaining, but EMU saw a thunderous dunk from Bryant got the Eagles going, as EMU went on an 9-0 run over the next three and a half minutes to even the game at 22 with 3:43 left. Columbia rattled off a pair of triples, giving CU another six-point lead. However, Lee posted six points in a row over the final 1:42 in the half. He knocked down a mid-range jumper with 1:42 on the clock, before throwing down a dunk with 19 seconds left in the half before Mike Talley picked Rosenberg's pocket and tossed Lee a pass down the floor. Lee drew a foul with just seven-tenths left on the clock and drained a pair of free throws to tie it up at the break, 28-28.

Lee poured in 15 points in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting for a 66.7 percent, while Bryant added six points in the first half. The Eagles shot 46.2 percent in the first half, going 12-of-26 from the floor, while Columbia hit 47.6 percent (10-of-21) of its attempts, but the Lions hot three-point shooting kept them in the game, as they shot 50 percent from beyond the arc.

Eastern came out in the second half trading buckets with the Lions. However, at the 16:07 mark, EMU took the lead, 35-33, and held on to the edge until the 7:22 mark. Eastern extended its lead to as many as six, 51-45, on a Ward dunk with 9:10 left in the game.

With victory in its sights, Eastern went cold from the field as they were held to just one field goal through the final nine minutes and 10 seconds of play. The Eagles saw Columbia go on a 14-0 run through a five minute span, taking an eight point, 59-51, lead with 3:45 left. Lee ended the scoring drought with 3:40 to go and hit a pair of free throws. Columbia finished the game on a 10-3 run, pushing its lead to the final 69-56 mark after dropping six straight free throws down the stretch.

The loss marked the end of the 2013-14 season for EMU. The Eagles saw their first 20 win season since 1997-98, as well as the most wins since the 1996-97 season with 22. EMU's Da'Shonte Riley became the first player in Eastern Michigan history to be named the Mid-American Conference's Defensive Player of the Year, while Karrington Ward earned All-MAC Third Team honors.

Eastern's Postseason Comes to an End After 69-56 Loss at Columbia

Team Stats

Ray Lee

Glenn Bryant

Karrington Ward

Mike Talley

Eastern Michigan Athletics