Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
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IPFW
Men’s Hoops Wins Thriller at the Buzzer Against IPFW
12/31/2006 5:23:32 PM | Men's Basketball
Cashen hits three-pointer at the buzzer for the win
Box score.
Listen to the Game Winner from WEMU (MP3 format).
YPSILANTI, Mich. – A clutch three-point hoop at the buzzer by senior forward Craig Cashen (Cincinnati, Ohio-St. Xavier) gave the Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team a 62-61 non-conference victory over IPFW here Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
EMU (4-8) was down by two, 61-59, with 1.2 seconds on the clock. Out of a time out, Cashen caught the inbound pass from Jesse Bunkley (Detroit, Mich.-CMA Mott C.C.), squared up deep from the top-left side of the arc and knocked down the shot to give the Eagles their second victory in a row.
EMU had three players in double figures and was led by Bunkley who tied a career-high and team-high 19 points hitting an impressive 5-of-7 three pointers. Over the last two games, Bunkley has made an impressive 8-of-15 shots from beyond the arc. James Matthews (Detroit, Mich.-Denby) also notched career-high with 12 points, going a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) returned after missing one game with an injury and added 10 points.
IPFW (4-10) was led by sophomore Jakari Johnson who scored 15 points with senior Tyler Best notching 14 points and junior DeWitt Scott adding 12 points.
For the game, EMU out-rebounded IPFW, 31-23, which led to 17 second-chance points. The Eagles are 2-1 in games in which they out rebound its opponents. Defensively, Eastern forced 14 turnovers which accounted for 23 of the Eagles’ 62 points.
Much like the first half, IPFW opened up the second with a run as the Mastodons outscored EMU, 20-13, to take a 48-37 lead at the 8:25 mark. A pair of Medlock free throws and a three pointer cut the led to 48-42 with seven minutes remaining. Bunkley connected on another three-pointer to again trim the lead to six, 51-45, with 5:30 to go. EMU then responded and went on a quick 10-0 run to once again take the lead, 55-53, courtesy of a three-pointer by Cashen. IPFW’s Chris Perkins hit a jumper to knot the score at 55-55 with 1:42 left in the game. Bunkey hit a lay-up to put the Eagles up two but Scott hit a three-pointer to put IPFW up 58-57 with :52 seconds remaining. Mathews hit another jumper to give EMU a 59-58 lead but Scott struck again with yet another three ball to put the Mastodons up 61-59 with 13.5 seconds left.
IPFW jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead over the first five minutes of the contest before Bunkley got EMU on the board at 12-5 with back-to-back jumpers. Medlock and Bunkley added two three-pointers to cut the lead to 14-11 with 10:30 left in the half. The Mastodons increased their lead to 20-16 before a pair of free throws and a three-point bucket by Dumes gave the Eagles their first lead of the game, 21-20. The advantage did not last long as IPFW outscored EMU, 8-3, down the stretch to take a 28-24 lead into the locker room at the half. Both teams put on three-point clinics in the first half as EMU hit 5-of-12 (41 percent) while IPFW connected on 6-of-11 (54 percent). Bunkely and Dumes led the Eagles with eight points each while DeWitt Scott led IPFW with six points.
EMU continues its five-game home stint against North Dakota State, Jan. 3, at 8 p.m.
