Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eagles Look to Protect Home Turf Against the Falcons
2/11/2008 1:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game time set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center
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Series Record: BGSU leads the series, 43-36. EMU won last year’s only meeting, 65-63, at Bowling Green (Feb. 10, 2007). Prior to that game the Falcons had won the three previous contests.
CHECKING THE FALCONS: BGSU head coach Louis Orr is in his first year at the helm and has directed the Falcons to an 11-11 overall record and a 6-4 MAC mark. BGSU is led by forward Nate Miller with a 13.6 scoring average and a 5.9 rebound mark. Chris Knight is at 10.8 points. Sophomore forward Marc Larson, a native of Mattawan, Mich., is averaging 5.0 points and 2.6 rebounds.
FOR THE 111th TIME: The 2007-08 season is the 111th year of men’s intercollegiate basketball at Eastern Michigan University. EMU played its inaugural season in 1897-98 and split games with Detroit, losing a 2-0 decision before coming back for a 4-0 victory. This year will also be the 34th for the Eagles as a member of the Mid-American Conference. The first year of MAC play for EMU was 1974-75 when the then-Hurons went 12-14 overall and 4-9 in league play. EMU has won three Mid-American Conference titles: 1987-88, 1990-91, and 1995-96, and the Green and White captured MAC Tournament crowns in all three of those years in addition to winning the MAC tourney title in 1997-98.
MR. CONSISTENT: EMU junior point guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) has been a consistent performer for the Eagles his entire career. He has played in 68 games for EMU and has recorded 49 double-figure scoring games, has scored 20 or more points 13 times and has led or tied the team in scoring 26 times.
PROTECTING HOME TURF: The Eagles will need to protect their home turf in the final seven games of the regular season with five of those contests scheduled to be played in the friendly confines of the Convocation Center. Eastern opens the home stretch with two Convo games next week. Wednesday (Feb. 13) the Eagles host Bowling Green and Saturday (Feb. 16) EMU will host Central Michigan. EMU then heads to Western Michigan for a Wednesday (Feb. 23) game in Kalamazoo followed by two straight home games, a BracketBusters non-conference game against Southeast Missouri State (Feb. 23) and a March 1 meeting the Ball State. The next to last tilt is slated for March 4 at Toledo and the regular-season finale is scheduled for March 9 against Northern Illinois. In addition the games against BGSU, Ball State and Toledo are all Comcast Local TV matchups with the game at WMU slated for 9 p.m. national television appearance on ESPNU.
TWO OF TOP SIX: The Eagles have two of the top six 3-point shooters in the MAC. Jesse Bunkley (Detroit, Mich.-CMA-Mott C.C.) is second with 2.43 triples made per game while Jarred Axon (Jackson, Mich.-Jackson-Schoolcraft C.C.) is sixth with 2.18 per game.
HOISTING THREES: The Eagles turned in their highest 3-point total of the season Sunday (Feb. 10) at Buffalo when they launched 38 triples, making 14. EMU has attempted 30 or more threes in a trio of games, with 38 at Buffalo, 35 at St. Bonaventure (Nov. 24) and 34 at Akron (Feb. 2). Eastern has taken 20 or more three pointers in 17 games this season and the Eagles have posted a 6-11 record in those games.
KNOCKING OFF A CO-LEADER: EMU came up with a huge win Wednesday (Feb. 6) by handing Mid-American Conference East Division co-leader Ohio a 63-56 setback. Ohio entered the game with a 6-2 East Division record.
AXON FINDS THE RANGE AGAIN: Senior guard Jarred Axon (Jackson, Mich.-Jackson-Schoolcraft C.C.) not only set a career-best with his 23-point effort in a win over Northern Illinois (Jan. 16), but his seven three-point field goals tied for the fifth-best single-game effort in EMU history. His seven triples ties him with Bryant Kennedy (1-4-92 at Rhode Island) and Brian Tolbert (3-16-96 vs. UConn in the NCAA Tournament) for fifth. Derrick Dial (1-5-98 vs. MARSHALL) set the single-game EMU record with nine. He just missed that mark against Ohio (Feb. 6) with six triples.
EMU TO HOST SEMO: The Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks will be EMU’s opponent Saturday, Feb. 23, in the sixth annual O’Reilly’s Auto Parts ESPNU BracketBusters game. The Redhawks, a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, are currently 12-12 overall and 7-7 in OVC action. SEMO is coached by second-year man Scott Edgar. This will be the first meeting between the two schools on the basketball court. EMU hosted SEMO in football, Sept. 14, 2002, and the Eagles recorded a 35-32 victory.
LARGEST MARGIN SINCE 2004: When EMU won by 24 points against Toledo (Jan. 22) it marked the biggest winning margin in head coach Charles E. Ramsey’s three-year EMU tenure. It was the largest winning margin over an NCAA Division I team since a 99-52 victory (47 points) over a visiting Navy team, Jan. 7, 2004, under then-head coach Jim Boone.
LONG-TIME COMING: EMU’s 65-61 win at Northern Illinois (Jan. 16) broke a nine-game EMU losing streak in DeKalb. The last time EMU had won at NIU was ironically, Jan. 17, 1998.
MATTHEWS DISMISSED FROM TEAM: EMU head coach Charles E. Ramsey has announced that senior center James Matthews (Detroit, Mich.-Denby) has been dismissed from the team for the remainder of the 2007-08 season for conduct detrimental to the program. Matthews missed the first eight games of the season and returned to play in 10 games, averaging 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds.
HALL OF FAME FEB. 16: The 32nd Annual EMU Athletic Hall of Fame, sponsored by the E-Club Alumni Chapter, will be held Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008, in the new EMU Student Center. The Class of 2007 includes: Al Jagutis (basketball, men’s tennis), Marci Kelley (softball), Mark Leonard (men’s swimming), Tamyka McCord (track and field), Stan Vinson (track and field), and Doug Willer (wrestling).
