Bunkley Powers Eagles to 63-60 Win Over Bonnies

Box score.

OLEAN, N.Y. — The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team closed out its two-game trip through the state of New York with a thrilling 63-60 win over St. Bonaventure here Saturday afternoon at Bob Lanier Court in the Reilly Center. The Eagles opened the New York swing with a 61-57 win at Manhattan Wednesday, Nov. 21.

Junior guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) came up with a big three-point field goal and four straight free throws over the final two minutes, the final pair with just 3.7 left to help the Eagles preserve the win. Senior guard Travis Lewis (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Loy Norrix) added an important free throw of his own, with 9.4 seconds to aid the cause. The Eagles’ defense then forced an off-balance desperation three-point attempt by St. Bonaventure that fell short as the final buzzer sounded.

The Eagles, now 3-2 on the year, were led by senior guard Jesse Bunkley (Detroit, Mich.-CMA-Mott C.C.) with 17 points while Jarred Axon (Jackson,Mich.-Jackson) added 15, and Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Oh. - Glenville) and Medlock adding 13 each.

St. Bonaventure, 3-3 on the season, was led by Michael Lee with 22 while Tyler Relph added 14.

The Eagles fought back in the first four minutes of the second half to earn a tie at 33-all when Bunkley connected on the second of two straight triple attempts. Eastern came right back a minute later to take a brief, 37-36 lead, on a four-point play by Axon, after he hit a three and made the free throw on the foul.

The game remained tight the rest of the way as the lead seesawed over the final seven minutes, with the largest lead for either team a six-point advantage for St. Bonaventure, twice in the final 20 minutes.

Medlock came up with a huge three-point shot with 2:09 left in the game to give the Eagles a 58-56 lead, but St. Bonaventure came back with two free throws to tie it at 58. Medlock then connected on two free throws of his own to give the Eagles a 60-58 lead with just 1:01 left.

St. Bonaventure then cut the EMU lead to one, 61-60, with just 9.4 seconds remaining on two free throws. The Eagles got the inbounds to Medlock and he was fouled with 3.7 seconds left and hit both charity tosses for a 63-60 lead.

The two teams traded buckets at the start of the game before Eastern took an 11-9 lead on a running jumper in the lane by junior guard Wendale Farrow (Sacramento, Calif.-Mira Loma-American River J.C.) at the 14:37 mark.

St. Bonaventure then exploded for a seven-point lead on nine unanswered points for an 18-11 lead with 12:35 left in the half. The Eagles managed to cool off the Bonnies at that point, and cut the margin to four on a three pointer by Bunkley at the 12:15 mark.

Both teams hit a four-minute drought from the eight-minute mark to the 3:51 mark when Axon fired in a three-point field goal to cut the home team’s lead to two, 22-20. After St. Bonaventure added a basket, Dobbins hit a left-handed scoop near the bucket to keep the home lead at two, 24-22, but the Bonnies added the final hoop of the first half with :24.3 left to take a 26-22 lead into the locker room at then half.

Dobbins paced the Eagles in the first half with nine points and six rebounds while Bunkley added six. St. Bonaventure was led by Michael Lee with eight points. Eastern shot just 29 percent in the first half (9-of-31), inculding hitting just 3-of-20 three-point attempts (15.0 percent) while the Bonnies weren’t much better, hitting 11-of-28 shots from the field for 39.3 percent. EMU held a large, 25-16, rebounding edge in the first 20 minutes.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos