Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Brown
Men's Basketball Drops a 53-51 Heartbreaker at Brown
11/29/2008 2:15:54 PM | Men's Basketball
Brown posts a 7-2 run in the closing moments to claim the victory
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaker this afternoon, Saturday, Nov. 29 in Providence, R.I., as the Bears from Brown University handed the Eagles a 53-51 loss at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
The loss drops the Eagles to 1-6 this season, while Brown improves to 3-3 with the win.
With the score tied at 51-all with 2:12 remaining the game, Brown’s Peter Sullivan would hit a 15-foot jumper with 1:56 left to give his team a two point lead. After forcing the Bears to turn the ball over on a shot clock violation, the Eagles got the ball back with seven seconds left, but could not get a shot off in time as the clock expired. There were 16 total lead-changes in the game, and the teams were tied six times in the contest.
With the Eagles down one with 13:47 remaining in the first frame, senior guard Zane Gay (Olivet, Mich.-Olivet) gave EMU a one point advantage on a fast-break layup after redshirt freshman guard L.J. Frazier (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ypsilanti) ripped Brown’s Chris Skrelja. Frazier would knock down a three-pointer less than a minute later to extend EMU’s lead to 15-11. Sophomore guard Solomon Farris (Detroit, Mich.-Osborn) would connect from long-distance again with 8:50 remaining to force a Brown timeout and give the Eagles a nine point advantage. Farris finished with a team-high 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including three baskets from long-distance.
The Bears got some momentum going late in the half as Morgan Kelly drilled a pair of three’s with under a minute remaining to give the Bears their first lead since the 13 minute mark, but a Gay three-pointer as time expired gave EMU a 28-26 advantage going into intermission. Frazier and Brown’s Peter Sullivan led all scorers with eight points at the half.
EMU forced 10 Brown turnovers in the first half on seven steals, but the Bears maintained a 17-14 advantage on the boards.
The two teams traded shot-for-shot in the second half, and with 7:40 remaining in the game, Farris drilled his third three-point bomb of the game to give EMU a 45-44 lead and force a Brown timeout. The Eagles would extend their lead to three after Gay blocked Brown’s Adrian Williams as the shot clock expired and took it coast-to-coast for the layup, giving EMU a 49-46 lead.
The Eagles dominated the Bears in the paint, out scoring Brown 26-14, but rebounds late in the game proved to be the deciding factor, as the Bears preserved their advantage on the boards by out-rebounding the Eagles, 36-28. Sullivan led all scorers with 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting from field and 8-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe.
The Eagles will be back in action again Monday, Dec. 8, when they host the Warriors from Wayne State University at the Convocation Center at 7 p.m. The two teams have not met since Nov. 23, 1991, when EMU cruised to a 105-63 victory in the season opener in Ypsilanti.
