Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Wayne State
Eagles Crush WSU at Home, 67-47
12/8/2008 8:15:19 PM | Men's Basketball
Brandon Bowdry finished with a game-high 19 points in the victory.
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team ended a six-game losing streak tonight, Dec. 8, at the Convocation Center, as the Eagles rolled to a 67-47 victory over Wayne State University.
The victory puts EMU at 2-6 this season, while WSU drops to 3-3 with the loss.
The Eagles played without head coach Charles E. Ramsey, who was suspended from the game due to an incident that occurred after the team’s Nov. 22 game at the University of Detroit Mercy.
Redshirt sophomore forward Brandon Bowdry (St. Louis, Mo.-Taylor (Mich.) Truman) got the Eagles off to a hot start, as he scored eight of EMU’s first 12 points of the contest en route to a 12-5 advantage. Freshman forward Branden Harrison (Houston, Texas-Milby) would extend EMU’s lead to 13 as his three-pointer with 8:48 remaining in the first half gave the Eagles a 27-14 advantage.
The Warriors battled back in the final minutes of the first half to cut EMU’s lead to one, but the Eagles’ hot shooting allowed the team to preserve a 39-31 lead at intermission. The Eagles shot 62.5 percent from the field on 15-of-24 shooting in the first 20 minutes – their best first half output this season, while the Warriors shot 40 percent (12-of-30) from the field.
Sophomore guard Solomon Farris (Detroit, Mich.-Osborn) and junior forward Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) each tallied a team-high 11 points for the Eagles in the first 20 minutes, while Wayne State’s Bryan Wright led all scorers with 14 points at the half.
The Eagles would continue their hot shooting to start the second half, as back-to-back three-point bombs from redshirt freshman guard L.J. Frazier (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ypsilanti) and layup by Bowdry gave EMU a 15-point advantage with 16:28 remaining, forcing a Warrior timeout.
The Eagles would keep WSU at arm’s length for the remainder of the contest, as a Bowdry free throw with 2:31 remaining capped a 14-0 run for the Eagles and gave the team a 28-point lead. The team’s stingy defense held WSU scoreless for more than half of the second frame, as EMU held the Warriors to just 17.9 percent (5-of-28) shooting in the second half.
Bowdry finished with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting and seven boards, while Farris and Dobbins added 15 and 13 points, respectively.
The Eagles will be back in action again Saturday, Dec. 13, when they head to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on the University of Michigan at 7 p.m. at Crisler Arena. The Eagles and Wolverines have not met since Nov. 12, 2006 when U-M handed EMU an 80-51 loss in Ann Arbor, Mich. as part of the John Thompson Challenge.
