Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Second-Half Rally Comes Up Short as Eagles Fall in Overtime, 75-72
12/29/2007 11:52:29 PM | Men's Basketball
EMU out-scores Texas A&M Corpus Christi 51-34 in second half and overtime
Box score.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A furious second-half rally fell just short as the Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team dropped a 75-72 overtime decision to Texas A&M Corpus Christi here Saturday evening in the consolation round of the Islander Invitational in the American Bank Center.
The Eagles roared back from a 41-21 first-half deficit to out-score the Islanders 51-34 in the second half and overtime. Trailing by six points, 65-59, with just :58.8 seconds left in regulation, Eastern scored the final six points in regulation with the big shot a three-point field goal by junior guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) with just 2.4 seconds left to tie it at 65-all. A desperation three-point shot by the Islanders was short at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) started the overtime with a basket for the Eagles and the two teams traded baskets through overtime before Texas A&M Corpus Christi went up by four, 74-70, with 1:07 left. Dobbins added two free throws with :11.8 remaining to cut it to 74-72 and the Islanders Tim Green then made one free throw for a 75-72 TAMUCC lead with 4.8 seconds left. Eastern sprinted the ball up court and Medlock had a clean look at a game-tying three-point field goal that fell just short, giving the home squad the hard-fought 75-72 victory.
For the game, Medlock led the Eagles (4-7) with 16 points and was named to the All-Tournament team. Dobbins and junior guard Tyler Jones (Belleville, Mich.-Belleville) scored 12 points each for the Eagles while TAMUCC (3-8) was paced by 7-foot center Chris Daniels with 22 while Kevin Perkins added 16.
The host Islanders jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the early stages of the first half with Daniels doing most of the damage with 10 points. The home square ran its advantage to 18, 32-14, with 4:41 left in the first half on a lay-up by Demond Watt, but the Eagles then came back with four quick points to cut the lead to 14, 32-18, on two free throws by Jones and a short jumper by Dobbins.
Texas A&M C.C.’s Daniels would own the first half, however, connecting on a long-range triple with just 7.3 seconds left to give the Islanders a 41-21 halftime lead and give Daniels 16 first-half
points. Medlock led the Eagles with 11.
The Eagles used the halftime intermission to regroup and came out on fire to start the second half. The Eagles out-scored the Islanders, 19-10, through the first seven minutes with two free throws by James Matthews (Detroit, Mich.-Denby) cutting the lead to 51-40 at the 12:45 mark.
The Eagles then managed to trim the deficit below double figures on a turnaround jumper by Dobbins in the lane that shortened the home team’s lead to nine, 51-42, with 10:35 left. Texas A&M C.C. guard Kevin Perkins then hit a triple to boost the lead back to 12, 54-42.
Eastern would not fold, however, keeping the defensive pressure on and coming back on the offensive end to cut the deficit to four, 58-54, on a dunk by Will Cooper (Detroit, Mich.-Pershing) with just four minutes left in the game. EMU senior guard Jarred Axon (Jackson, Mich.-Jackson-Schoolcraft C.C.) connected on two big threes over the final minutes, one with 1:35 left to cut it to two points, and another with 49 seconds left to make it 65-62, TAMUCC. Those big buckets set up Medlock’s game-tying triple at the end of regulation.
In the championship game played earlier today, 25th ranked Rhode Island recorded an 85-80 win over Georgia Southern.
