Men's Basketball Falls at Toledo

Box Score

TOLEDO, Ohio — The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team hung tough with Toledo but poor second-half shooting coupled with costly turnovers led to a 68-56 loss at the hands of the Mid-American Conference West Division leaders here Wednesday night at the John F. Savage Hall.

The game was close throughout the first half and deep into the second half until the 8:04 mark when EMU (9-16, 4-8 MAC) pulled within one, 48-47, of Toledo (14-10, 10-2 MAC). The Rockets then went on a 12-1 run to take a commanding 60-48 lead at the 4:43 mark. EMU clawed back to pull within nine at 60-51 with 4:02 left but Toledo again pushed ahead 63-51 by the 3:39 mark and went on to lock up the 68-56 victory.

After hitting12-for-24 shots from the field (50 percent) in the first half and connecting on 6-for-11 (54 percent) shots from beyond the arc, the Eagles cooled off considerably in the second frame. EMU only hit 7-of-22 (31 percent) and 5-of-14 (35 percent) while committing 13 turnovers in each half that led to 31 UT points.

EMU was led by freshman guard Devon Dumes (Indianapolis, Ind.-Decatur Central) who scored 15 points with four of his five treys coming in the second half to finish with an impressive 5-of-8 from thee-point land. Brandon Bowdry (Taylor, Mich.-Truman) also scored in double figures with 12 points. Junior forward James Matthews (Detroit Mich., Denby-Marquette) grabbed a team-high nine boards.

Toledo had three players in double figures led by junior Kashif Payne who had 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from three point range. Senior forward Kenota Howell senior center Florentino Valencia added 12 points each.

Eastern started the second half outscoring Toledo 11-9 over the first six minutes to go up 41-37 at the 14:30 mark thanks to a pair of triples by Dumes. UT came back with a highlight dunk by Tyrone Kent to pull within two at 42-39. Toledo tied the game at 42-42 before Dumes hit his third triple of the half to put EMU up 45-42. The Rockets responded with a 6-0 run to move ahead 48-45 before Bowdry hit a pair of free throws to pull the Eagles closer at 48-47.

The game started out nip and tuck over the first 13 minutes with EMU holding a slim 20-18 lead at the 7:28 mark of the first half. Neither team could mount any offense over the next four minutes as Toledo moved ahead 22-20 with 3:44 left in the half. Eastern went on a quick 5-0 run to go up 25-22 before UT got back-to-back hoops to go up 26-22. EMU got a jumper from Bowdry and a Dumes three-pointer as time expired to send the Eagles into the locker room with a 30-26 lead. For the half, EMU was led by Travis Lewis (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Loy Norrix) and Bowdry with six points each while Toledo was paced by Valencia who also had six points.

EMU will host the Manhattan Jaspers as a part the BracketBuster presented by ESPNU and O’Reilly Auto Parts. Tip off is set for Saturday, Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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