Eastern Downed by Toledo, 66-56

Box score.

YPSILANTI, Mich. —The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team’s bid for a first place tie in the MAC West standings came up short as the Eagles fell, 66-56, to the visiting first-place Toledo Rockets here Tuesday night in the Convocation Center.

After playing to a 28-all first-half tie, Toledo opened the second half with the first six points, in part on a flagrant fall call charged to EMU’s Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) as he was attempting to block a shot. The Rockets hit four foul shots and a jumper to take a 34-28 lead before Medlock hit two free throws of his own to cut the UT lead to four, 34-30. at the 17:32 mark. The Rockets continued their run with two more free throws and a three-point hoop by Ridley Johnson to move ahead, 39-30.

EMU then got back on track with a hoop by James Matthews (Detroit, Mich.-Denby), a pair of free throws by Bunkley and a Craig Cashen (Cincinnati, Ohio-St. Xavier three to pull closer at 41-37 but Toledo hit back-to-back three-pointers to go up 47-37. Medlock hit a layup and two free throws coupled with a Devon Dumes (Indianapolis, Ind.-Decatur Central) runner to cut the Rocket lead to six, 51-45, at the 8:36 mark. Over the next three minutes both teams went back and forth before Bunkley hit another three-pointer to once again pull the Eagles within six, 56-50, with 4:30 remaining. However, Toledo went on a 10-4 run to go up 66-54 with 1:31 left and the Rockets held on for the 10-point win, 66-56.

EMU (7-10, 2-2 MAC) was led by sophomore guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) with 18 points while junior guard Jesse Bunkley (Detroit, Mich.-CMA-Mott C.C.) added 15. The Eagles held a 31-24 rebound advantage but the Green and White suffered 22 turnovers leading to 20-Toledo points. Eastern shot 47.8 percent from the field (22-of-46) but the Eagles could manage just 4-of-20 three-point attempts for 20 percent.

Toledo (8-8, 4-0 MAC) was led by senior forward Kenota Howell who scored 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc while senor center Florentino Valencia added 15 points and junior Kashif Payne added 12. The Rockets connected on 20-of-43 field goals for 46.5 percent and shot 38.1 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-21).

The game started out nip and tuck with EMU holding a slim 9-7 lead at the first media timeout. The Eagles extended their lead to seven, 17-10, at the 10:49 mark. Dobbins hit a layup to put EMU up 21-15 but Toledo responded with a 10-4 run to cut the lead to one, 21-20, at the four-minute mark of the first half. The run continued as the Rockets got two consecutive buckets by Valencia to give Toledo its first lead, 24-21, with 2:44 remaining. Medlock hit an off-balance jumper to tie the game at 25 until Ingram drained a three-pointer to put UT up three, 28-25. However, Bunkley hit a three-point jumper at the buzzer to tie the game, 28-28, at the end of the half. EMU shot 52.2 percent connecting on 12-of-23 shots from the field in the first 20 minutes while Toledo hit 40.9 percent on 9-of-22 shooting.

EMU hits the road for a MAC tilt against instate rival Western Michigan Saturday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m. The game will be televised live on Comcast Local (Cable Channel 8 in Ypsilanti).

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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