Men's Basketball Falls at #16 Indiana

Box score.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team fell to No. 16/17 Indiana, 79-63, here at Assembly Hall Saturday, Dec. 3. With the loss, the Eagles fell to 1-3 on the young season, while the Hoosiers moved to 4-1.

Eastern was led by senior John Bowler (Chicago, Ill.-Notre Dame), who had a career-high 28 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Nick Freer (Stevensville, Mich.-Lakeshore) finished with nine points and was the Eagles' second-highest scorer. IU was paced by Robert Vaden with 18 points while Ben Allen added a career-high 15.

The Hoosiers broke to a 16-8 lead before allowing the Eagles to close to 25-24 with 7:03 left in the half after senior Danny McElhinny (Hermitage, Pa-Kennedy Catholic) hit a three-pointer. The Hoosiers went inside to Allen, who completed a three-point play, before adding back-to-back treys to make it 34-27. The Eagles closed again to 36-32 in the final minute of the half, but Errek Suhr's four-point play in the closing seconds gave Indiana a 40-32 halftime lead heading into the locker room.

It appeared Indiana might pull away early in the second half when Roderick Wilmont hit two straight three-point field goals to make it 50-36. But Eastern Michigan countered with an 11-2 run to make it 52-47 with 14:25 to remaining in the contest. The Hoosiers put the game out of reach midway thru the second half, by going on an 8-0 run. The Eagles would get no closer then nine points the rest of the way.

Eastern out rebounded the Crimson and White by three, 29 to 26, while shooting 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the floor. Indiana shot 55.6 percent from the field and shot 9-for-13 from 3-point range.

EMU returns to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center Wednesday, Dec. 7, to host Horizon League foe Youngstown State at 8:30 p.m. The game is part of a doubleheader as the EMU women’s team faces Indiana at 6 p.m.

Notes:

• John Bowler’s pervious career-high in points was 26 against Bowling Green, Jan. 3, 2004 when he was 8-of-15 from the floor and 10-for-12 from the charity stripe.

• The victory was Indiana Head Coach Mike Davis' 100th in six seasons at Indiana, making him the second-fastest to the 100-win mark in school history. Only Bob Knight achieved the feat faster, doing it in five seasons.

• The game was EMU’s time playing in Bloomington, Ind. Eastern dropped a 99-82 decision at Indiana, Dec. 1, 1970. Eastern also played Indiana in the first round of the 9th Annual Indiana Classic, Dec. 10, 1982, and the Hoosiers captured an 85-48 decision.

• Senior forward John Bowler continues to make his mark offensively for the Eagles. He has played in 88 games, starting 59 times during his career and he has scored in double figures 53 times, recorded 16 double-doubles and has scored 20 or more points six times.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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