Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Central Michigan
Men’s Hoops Wins Overtime Thriller
3/2/2007 10:25:45 PM | Men's Basketball
Eagles erase 13 point second half deficit to win on overtime
Midway through the second half with EMU trailing 47-42 at the12:29 mark, CMU got three consecutive three-point hoops from Chris Kellerman and a jumper from Sefton Barrett to take a commanding 58-45 lead with 9:24 to go. With EMU still down 10, 65-55, the Eagles went on a 14-8 run to pull within four, 73-69, with 1:48 left in the game. Junior James Matthews (Detroit, Mich.-Denby) missed a dunk followed by a missed three pointer from Dumes which gave the ball to CMU. EMU’s defense then proved to be the difference down the stretch as Bunkley forced a turnover by Giordan Watson but Dumes again missed a three to capitalize. Junior Jarred Axon (Jackson, Mich.-Jackson-School Craft C.C.) came up with another big steal off CMU’s Robbie Harman which led to a Brandon Bowdry (Taylor, Mich.-Turman) tip-in to pull Eastern within two, 73-71, with 40 seconds left. Watson turned the ball over again giving the Eagles another chance but Bunkley missed a three pointer to give EMU the lead. However, Matthews atoned for his missed dunk by grabbing the offensive board and hit a lay-up to tie the game with nine seconds remaining. Watson then missed a shot at the buzzer for the win.
In the overtime period, EMU jumped out on a 9-5 run to take an 84-78 lead at the 1:40 mark. CMU got a three from Kellerman and two free throws from Marko Spica to cut the lead to one, 84-83 with 36 seconds remaining. EMU closed out the game with clutch free throws from Dumes and Axon to preserve the 87-83 victory.
All of Dumes’ 17 points came in the second half on 4-of-7 shooting from the field including 3-of-5 from three-point range and a perfect 6-for-6 at the charity stripe. Bowdry added 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field while Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) chipped in 11 points hitting 4-of-5 from the field. Matthews also added nine points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Central Michigan was led by Watson who scored a game-high 24 points while Kellerman added 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc in the second half. Spica also chipped in 15 points going a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line.
During the first 10 minutes of the half, EMU had trouble scoring going on a five minute drought without a hoop before Matthews hit a pair of free-throws and a jumper to pull Eastern within one, 11-10 at the 10:39 mark. Both teams finally got in a rhythm as the scoring picked up as CMU held a slim lead 23-22 at the 3:56 mark of the half. The half closed out with both teams trading baskets down the stretch leading to a 30-30 tie heading into the locker room. Bunkley led the Eagles with eight points while Watson paced the Chippewas with 10 points. EMU shot 52 percent (10-of-19) from the field while CMU hit 32 percent (9-for-28) from the floor.
EMU will conclude the regular season with a road tilt at Northern Illinois Sunday March 4 at 2 p.m.
