Men’s Basketball Falls at Tulsa

Box score

TULSA, Okla. – The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team put forth a valiant effort before falling to Tulsa, 66-48, Saturday afternoon here at the Reynolds Center. With the loss, EMU falls to 2-8 while Tulsa improves to 9-2 on the season.

The Eagles were led by freshman Brandon Bowdry (Taylor, Mich-Truman) who scored a team-high nine points with six rebounds. Junior James Matthews (Detroit, Mich.-Demby) notched a season-high eight points along with senior Craig Cashen (Cincinnati, Ohio-St. Xavier) who poured in eight points. Tulsa was led by Jamel McLean and Ben Uzoh who both tallied a game-high 14 points.

EMU utilized the zone defense to control the tempo and slow down Tulsa’s fast break offense. The plan was effective as the Eagles limited the Golden Hurricane to 66 points which was its third lowest out-put of the season. However, EMU had to go without sophomore point-guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) for the second half due the injury and could not match Tulsa on the glass as the Golden Hurricane out rebounded the Eagles, 35-20, which led to 16 second-chance points. Poor second half shooting was also a problem as EMU hit only 7-of-22 (31 percent) while Tulsa hit 14-of-30 shots (46 percent) and connected on 22-of-52 shots from the field (48 percent) for the game.

EMU opened up the game on an 8-0 run and extended it to a 15-5 lead thanks to six points from Matthews and a three-point hoop by Devon Dumes (Indianapolis, Ind.-Decatur Central with 11:21 to go in the half. Tulsa started to heat up from the outside going on a 12-2 run tying the score at 17-17. The game was nip and tuck down the stretch with the Golden Hurricane pushing its lead to seven, 30-23. Junior Jarrod Axon (Grand Rapids, Mich.-East Kentwood) hit four consecutive free throws and junior Jesse Bunkley (Detroit, Mich.-CMA Mott C.C.) hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to cut Tulsa’s lead at 34-30 heading into the locker room. For the half, EMU got most of its points inside connecting on 11-of-20 shots from the field (55 percent) while Tulsa shot well from long range hitting 6-of-12 three-point shots (50 percent).

Both teams traded baskets back and forth throughout the first 13 minutes of the second-half. Cashen hit a jumper putting the Eagles down two, 44-42, with 12:46 remaining. EMU would miss its next five shots from the field and Tulsa took advantage going on an 8-1 run to take a 52-43 lead at the 8:05 mark. Axon hit a three-point bucket to pull EMU within six, 52-46, but that would be as close as the Eagles would get as Tulsa went on a 14-2 run down the stretch to close out the game with the 66-48 victory.

EMU returns home to the Convocation Center against Eastern Illinois Thursday, Dec. 28, at 3 p.m.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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