Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Tulsa
Eagles Storm Past Golden Hurricane
12/22/2005 8:45:18 PM | Men's Basketball
YPSILANTI, Mich.—The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team defeated visiting Tulsa, 67-62, here Thursday night in the Convocation Center. EMU junior Craig Cashen (Cincinnati, Ohio-St. Xavier) and sophomore Nick Freer (Stevensville, Mich.-Lakeshore) notched career highs with 15 and 14 points respectively. Cashen connected on 4-of-9 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line while Freer scored on 5-of-7 shots from the field and connected on 4-of-6 three-pointers. With the win, the Eagles move to 3-4 on the season while the Golden Hurricanes fall to 4-6.
Defense was the name of the game in the first half as both teams struggled to score and only hit a combined 16-of-48 shots. The offense opened up as the pace increased significantly in the second half as EMU and Tulsa both shot 44 percent from the field hitting a combined 28-63 shots. The difference maker was the early run by the Eagles as they outscored the Golden Hurricanes 20-4 over the first 15 minutes. Tulsa made a late comeback to pull with four points but was not enough as EMU held on for the, 67-62, victory.
In addition to Cashen’s 15 and Freer’s 14 points, freshman Carlos Medlock notched 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field. Also, senior John Bowler (Chicago, Ill.-Notre Dame) tallied nine points putting him over the 1,000 point mark for his career.
"Our kids did a tremendous job," EMU Head Coach Charles E. Ramsey said. "We came out with a defensive mind set in the second half and that keyed our offense. We got transition baskets, layups and we got to the free throw line and that was all keyed from the defensive end. They (Tulsa) made a run in the second half but our kids withheld it and that was the key. Until you have breakthroughs like that, which we had tonight, you can file that in your memory bank and say ‘hey, we’ve been here before’."
Tulsa came out on a quick 4-0 run increasing their lead to, 27-22. EMU responded with a 20-0 run of their own to take a commanding, 40-27, lead sparked by back-to-back three-point buckets by Freer and a three-point play by Cashen with 15:00 left in the game. The Eagles continued to pour it on and increased their lead to 49-36. However, Tulsa responded and out scored EMU 18-9 over the next 10 minutes to pull to within four, 58-54, with 4:54 to go. Free throws by Medlock and Cashen kept the Eagles ahead 61-55 with 1:45 to go but a three-point hoop by Tulsa’s Charles Ramsdell pulled the Golden Hurricanes within three, 61-58, with 1:32 remaining. EMU went 6-for-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch to hold on for the, 67-62, victory.
"We just don’t take care of the basketball," Tulsa Head Coach Doug Wojcik. "We did a great job on Bowler but they were resilient. We just hurt ourselves."
EMU and Tulsa both came out with hard-nose defensive efforts throughout first half as baskets were hard to come by. The game was nip and tuck as Tulsa clung to a 16-13 lead with 7:44 remaining. The Eagles took a brief, 22-21, lead on a Medlock three-pointer with 1:23 remaining but a jumper by Tulsa’s Brett McDade gave the Golden Hurricanes a 23-21 lead heading into the locker room. For the half, EMU only hit 7-of-25 shots for a 28 percent clip from the field. Medlock led the Eagles offensively with six points. Tulsa shot 39 percent from the filed connecting on only 9-of-23 shots and was led by McDade who tallied nine points.
Next action for EMU is a road contest against Northern Colorado on Friday, Dec. 30 at 1 p.m
