Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
California
The Charles Ramsey Era Begins in Style with a 67-65 Victory Over Cal
11/19/2005 12:07:15 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior John Bowler tallied a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the victory
YPSILANTI, Mich.--The game was billed as a battle of The Teacher vs. The Pupil and in the end The Pupil proved to be a good student as the Eastern Michigan University Eagles recorded a 67-65 non-conference win over a visiting University of California-Berkeley Golden Bears team here Friday night in the Convocation Center. For the game, the Eagles shot a blistering 55% from the field and connected on 9-of-19 three pointers for a 47% clip.
Ben Braun, the winningest head coach in EMU history (1986-96), was inducted into the EMU E-Club Athletic Hall of Fame in pre-game ceremonies and saw his team rally from several big deficits but it was not enough as the Golden Bears suffered their first lost of the season. Braun entered the game with 499 career wins.
EMU Head Coach Charles Ramsey, an Ypsilanti native and 1992 EMU graduate, was an assistant coach under Braun at both EMU and California earned his first career victory as the Eagles opened up the 2005-06 season with a 1-0 record.
With all of those scenarios in place at the start of the game, the finish came down to a tough defensive stand as the Eagles clung to a two point lead with five seconds remaining in the game. California junior Ayinde Ubaka had trouble getting a good look at the hoop, missed a jumper and sophomore DeVon Ubaka was unable to convert the following put back at the buzzer giving the Eagles to victory.
"It’s all about our five guys against their five," said EMU Head Coach Charles Ramsey, "there’s no greater time than this time of the year for me, I love college basketball."
"We had some opportunities {in the second half} to get out, we didn’t do that very consistently," said California Head Coach Ben Braun, "If you want to look at something I think {the freshman are} a bright spot for this team."
Eastern opened the game with a flurry, building up a five-point lead, 25-20, with 6:09 left in the half. The Eagles closed out the half with a one point advantage, 34-33.
John Bowler (Chicago, Ill.-Notre Dame) paced the Eagles in the first half, turning in a double-double with a half-best 15 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Gino Smith (Milwaukee, Wisc.-Harmony Community School) added 10 for EMU. Theo Robertson led the visitors with 10 points. Eastern held an 18-12 advantage on the boards.
Cal roared back from a 10-point deficit midway in the second half to take their first lead of the game, 54-52, on a basket by Ubaka. Despite losing the lead, Eastern came right back on two consecutive three-point field goals by Danny McElhinny, helping the Eagles tie the game at 58-all with 5:38 left, and adding another jumper with 5:10 remaining for a 61-58 EMU advantage.
With 5:38 remaining in the contest, EMU knotted the score at 58 on a Danny McElhinny (Hermitage, Pa.-Kennedy Catholic) trey followed by a Golden Bear turnover and another McElhinny bucket to retake the advantage at 60-58, forcing Cal to burn a timeout. The Eagle lead grew to four points on a Bowler put-back, which was aided by three consecutive Cal turnovers. Back-to-back baskets by Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) and Bowler pushed the advantage to eight, 66-58, but Cal quickly responded with four quick points to bring the Bears back within four, 66-52, with 1:28 remaining in the game.
California pulled within a point, 66-65, on a Ubaka trey with less than 30 seconds left in the contest. Craig Cashen (Cincinnati, Ohio-St. Xavier) sunk a free throw with to give EMU a two-point advantage. Cal called timeout with :05 seconds left to setup a final shot, but was unable to convert.
The Eagles were led offensively by Bowler who tallied a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Smith chipped in with 16 points and McElhinny posted 11 points connecting on 3-for-5 from three-point range.
Theo Robertson had 12 and Jordan Wilkes added 11 for Cal. Bears center Rod Benson (heel), last season's leading scorer and rebounder, and forward Leon Powe (foot) did not play Friday. Both were projected starters.
Next action for EMU (1-0) is at North Dakota State, Saturday, Nov. 26, at 1 p.m.a
