Men's Hoops Upends Eastern Illinois

Box score.

YPSILANTI, Mich. – Deadly second-half shooting by junior guards Jesse Bunkley (Detroit, Mich.-CMA Mott C.C.) and Jarrod Axon (Jackson, Mich.-Jackson-Schoolcraft C.C.) sparked the Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team to a 63-51 victory over Eastern Illinois here Thursday afternoon in the Convocation Center.

EMU (3-8) had four players in double figures, led by Axon who scored a career and team-high 15 points hitting an impressive 5-of-8 three-pointers. Bunkley notched 13 points on 3-of-8 shooting from long range. Both players accounted for 21 of EMU’s 36 second-half points. Freshmen Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio.-Glenville) also poured in a career-best 12 points with freshman Brandon Bowdry (Taylor, Mich-Truman) adding 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Eastern Illinois (5-9) was led by freshman Romain Martain and Ousmane Cisse who tallied 17 and nine points respectively.

Eastern’s defensive effort, especially in the second half, made the difference as the Eagles got 23 points of 16 EIU turnovers while notching 16 second-chance points to EIU’s four. Offensively, EMU shot 52 percent (10-of-19) in the second half while holding EIU to just 26 percent shooting from the field (6-of-23) compared to 57 percent in the first half. The Eagles also put the clamps down from behind the arc allowing the Panthers to hit just 1-for-10 three-pointers in the second half after the visitors went 5-for-7 in the first frame.

The Eagles came out with a 8-0 run to start the second half, sparked by Bunkley and Axon three-pointers and a Matthews jump hook to take a 35-32 lead. The Panthers out scored the Eagles 7-3 over the next two minutes to take a 39-38 lead at the 11 minute mark before Bunkley struck again from beyond the arc to put EMU up, 40-39. The Eagles were not done as Axon and Bunkley added two more three-pointers to give EMU a 47-39 lead with 7:18 remaining. The home squad went on to outscore the visitors, 10-2, to take a 55-41 lead. However, EIU would not go away and cut the lead to 57-51 with less than two minutes remaining in the game. EMU held on and hit its free throws down the stretch to seal its third victory of the season.

The game was nip and tuck over the first 11 minutes. With the score tied at 10-10, EIU went on a 10-4 run to take a 20-14 lead at the 6:52 mark. EMU responded by scoring the next four points, capped off by a Dobbins dunk to cut the lead to 20-18. Once again Eastern Illinois went on an offensive surge, out scoring EMU 12-9 down the stretch to take a 32-27 halftime lead into the lockerroom. EIU shot lights out in the first half, hitting on 5-of-7 three-pointers for a staggering 71 percent pace while connecting on 12-of-21 shots from the field at a 57 percent clip. EMU hit only 9-of-21 from the field for 31 percent.

EMU continues its five-game home stint against Indiana Purdue at Fort Wayne (IPFW), Dec. 31, at 2 p.m.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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