Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Detroit
EMU Falls to Detroit, 72-68
11/28/2007 9:42:51 PM | Men's Basketball
Titans rally in second half to upend Eagles
YPSILANTI, Mich.
— The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team fell victim to a second-half rally by a visiting University of Detroit Mercy team here Wednesday night at the Convocation Center as they fell, 72-68, in a non-conference game.The Eagles built a 10-point second half lead at the midway point, but the Titans rallied to out-score the home team, 28-14, the rest of the way. The loss evens EMU’s record at 3-3 while Detroit moves to 4-2.
Junior guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) paced the Eagles with 21 points while Jesse Bunkley (Detroit, Mich.-CMA-Mot C.C.) added 16 and Jarred Axon (Jackson, Mich.-Jackson-Schoolcraft C.C.) scored 11. Detroit was paced by Josh Samarco with 18 while Josh Everingham added 13.
Detroit managed to hit 55.6 percent of its field goals (25-of-45) while the Eagles were held to 43.8 percent (21-of-48). Eastern managed a 32-26 advantage on the board and hit 12-of-25 threes (48.0 percent).
The Eagles opened up a six-point lead through the first five minutes of the game and increased that advantage to 10, 19-9, on a dunk by sophomore center Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) at the 10:36 mark.
Eastern kept the offense flowing from that point, building a 14-point lead, 35-21, on a putback by redshirt sophomore forward Kyle Dodd (Rockwood, Ontario, Canada-John F. Ross), with 4:09 left in the half.
Detroit managed a mini-run of its own, cutting the EMU lead to eight, 41-33, at intermission. Eastern shot a blistering 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from beyond the three-point arc in the first half. Medlock led the Eagles in the first half with 12 while Bunkley added 11.
The two teams traded buckets in the early stages of the second half before Eastern went on an 8-4 run to go up 12, 49-37, on a jumper by Axon at the 14:08 mark.
The Green and White upped their lead to 10, 54-44, at the 10:06 mark on a three-point bucket by Bunkley before the Titans went on a scoring frenzy to cut the EMU advantage to just one point, 54-53, capped by a three-point shot from the right corner from Samarco.
The Titans would not quit at that point, however, coming up with a basket by Eulis Stephens for a 55-54 U-D advantage. Chris Hayes added a free throw for Detroit to make it 56-54, before Medlock broke a five-minute scoring drought with two free throws to tie it at 56-all with 5:12 left.
The visitors came right back to go up by three, 61-58, before Axon came up with a huge three to tie it at 61-all with 3:24 remaining.
That brief lead would be it for the Eagles, however, as Detroit gained a seven-point lead, 68-61, with a minute left and the Titans held on for the four-point win.
