Men's Basketball Clipped by Akron

Box score.

YPSILANTI, Mich.-- The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team put up a good fight but eventually fell to visiting Akron, 77-72, here Saturday night in the Convocation Center in a Mid-American Conference tilt. With the loss, EMU falls to 6-15 (2-11 MAC) while Akron takes sole possession of first place in the East Division at 17-5 (11-2 MAC).

Eastern was led by freshman Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich. Murray Wright) who notched a career-high 24 points, hitting a blistering 6-for-7 from three-point land. Junior James Matthews (Detroit, Mich.-Demby) also chipped in a career-best 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. John Bowler (Chicago, Ill.-Notre Dame) tallied his 27th career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Poor free-throw shooting doomed Eastern as the Eagles only hit a dismal 4-of-13 in the second half from the charity stripe down the stretch. For the game, the Eagles hit 13-of-26 for a 50 percent clip while Akron only missed one free throw in the first half and went 18-for-24 for the game en route to its MAC-leading 11 wins. The poor free throw shooting as negated an otherwise solid shooting effort from the field as the Eagles hit 58 percent connecting on 25-of-43 shots while the Zips hit 25-of-50 from the field for a 50 percent clip.

"We competed with the best team in the conference for 36 and one half minutes tonight but it comes down to the three and one half minutes that we call winning time where we need to get better," Eastern Michigan University Head Coach Charles E. Ramsey said. "We have to learn how to close people out and its not necessarily on the offensive end but the defensive end. That’s how you close out people."

"They (Eastern) were really competitive tonight," Akron Head Coach Keith Dambrot said. "They shot the ball better than I’ve seen them shoot it-they really shot it in. We looked a half step slow to me. We’re usually a very good defensive team but we were not very good tonight. We just had a little more experience than them at crunch time and that’s what it came down to basically."

Akron came out in the first half out hitting on all cylinders to take an early 16-9 lead connecting on its first 5-for-8 shots from the field including a 2-for-4 mark from behind the arc. On the other hand, EMU struggled, only scoring two field goals on its first 10 shots. Free throws kept the Eagles close as they hit 6-of-10 from the line and added two consecutive layups by Bowler and Medlock cutting the Zip lead to three, 19-16, with 7:45 remaining in the half. The Zips responded with a 6-0 run before triples by Medlock and Danny McElhinny (Hermitage, Pa.-Kennedy Catholic) kept the deficit to three points, 27-24, with 4:29 to go in the half. Both teams exchanged hoops over the next four minutes before a McElhinny three tied the score at 32-32 with :32 seconds remaining. Akron’s Quade Milum hit 1-of-2 free throws with :03 seconds to give the Zips a 33-32 lead at the end of the half. Medlock led Eastern with 11 points while Nick Dials paced the Zips with eight points.

The second half opened up with Eastern gaining its first led of the game, 37-36, on a Medlock triple and Bowler layup. EMU kept the pressure on hitting its next two shots and a free throw to move ahead, 44-39, forcing Akron to take a time out at the 16:05 mark. Out of the time out, Akron ended the 12-6 Eagle run with a Rob Preston triple and Nick Dials jumper to tie the score at 44. EMU and Akron continued to trade baskets over the next six minutes until an acrobatic ally-oop layup by Nick Freer (Stevensville, Mich.-Lakeshore) from Craig Cashen (Cincinnati, Ohio-St. Xavier) put EMU up four, 55-51 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. The Zips would not go away and ripped off a quick 7-0 run to move ahead, 58-55. Each team had trouble pulling away over the next five minutes as Akron only outscored EMU 10-to-8 to maintain a slim 65-63 lead with 3:57 to go. Akron once again went on another run, 7-2, to move ahead 72-65 with 1:27 remaining. A Bowler layup pulled EMU closer, 72-67, but a pair of free throws kept Akron ahead , 74-67, with :40 seconds to go. Medlock hit another tray with :37 seconds left pulling the Eagles to within four, 74-70. Akron was able to close out the game from the free throw line earning a 77-72 victory.

The Eagles are next in action Wednesday, Feb. 15, when they travel to intra-state rival Western Michigan. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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