Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eagle Host Cardinals Saturday
2/25/2008 4:32:26 PM | Men's Basketball
Game time set for 2 p.m. at the Convocation Center
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SERIES RECORD: Ball State leads the series, 52-31. Ball State won the earlier meeting this year, 64-60, Jan. 19, in Muncie, Ind. Prior to that game the Eagles had won the previous three consecutive games, including a 51-48 win (March 7, 2007) in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
CHECKING THE CARDS: Ball State enters Saturday’s (March 1) game with a 5-21 overall record and a 4-9 MAC mark under first-year head coach Billy Taylor. The Cardinals recorded a 64-60 win over Eastern earlier this season (Jan. 19) in Muncie, Ind. Anthony Newell leads the Cardinals in scoring (16.5) and rebounding (8.6).
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.
AXON SETS CAREER BEST: Senior guard Jarred Axon (Jackson, Mich.-Jackson-Schoolcraft C.C.) established a career-best in scoring with a 29-point effort in an 86-82 win over a visiting Southeast Missouri State University team Saturday (Feb. 23, 2008) in the sixth annual O’Reilly Auto Parts ESPNU BracketBuster game. Axon made 8-of-15 field goals, 5-of-11 3-point attempts, all eight free throws and grabbed four rebounds with two assists against the Redhawks. His previous high total was 23 points at Northern Illinois (Jan. 16, 2008).
TWO FOR 20: EMU guards Jarred Axon (Jackson, Mich.-Jackson-Schoolcraft C.C.) and Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) both turned in 20-plus scoring efforts in Saturday’s (Feb. 23) win over Southeast Missouri State. Axon scored a career-best 29 points while Medlock added 24. That two-man 20-point effort was the first for EMU since John Bowler and Danny McElhinny each tallied 21 in an 80-69 win at Central Michigan (March 1, 2006), 59 games between outings.
MEDLOCK STRONG AT THE STRIPE: Senior point guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) tied the fourth-best single-game free-throw effort in school history with 16-of-18 Saturday (Feb. 23) against SEMO. Those 16 charity tosses tied three other players for fourth best.
SETTING THE BAR: EMU’s 33 free throws and 86 points in the win over Southeast Missouri State Saturday (Feb. 23) were both season-best performances for the Eagles.
RAMSEY IMPROVES TO 3-0 IN BRACKETBUSTER ACTION: EMU head coach Charles E. Ramsey is now 3-0 in O’Reilly Auto Parts ESPNU BracketBuster competition after an 86-82 win over a visiting Southeast Missouri State University team Saturday (Feb. 23).
MEDLOCK MATCHES BEST: Junior point guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) tied his career-best point total with 26 in a 78-68 win over a visiting Bowling Green State University team (Feb. 13). Medlock connected on 6-of-10 field goals, 5-of-5 triples and 9-of-10 free throws against the Falcons. His other 26-point effort came at home against Buffalo (Jan. 28, 2007).
SECOND BACK-TO-BACK WINS: EMU’s back-to-back wins over Bowling Green (Feb. 13) and Central Michigan (Feb. 16) marked the second time this season that the Eagles have turned in consecutive Mid-American Conference wins. Eastern defeated Western Michigan (Jan. 12) and Northern Illinois (Jan. 16) earlier this year.
SECOND-PLACE BATTLE: The Eagles kept a piece of second place in the Mid-American Conference West Division despite a 70-52 loss at WMU Wednesday (Feb. 20). CMU managed a win at Ball State Wednesday and the Chippewas are now tied with the Eagles at 6-7. Western leads the West with a 9-3 mark.
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 72 games for EMU and has recorded 53 double-figure scoring games, has scored 20 or more points 15 times and has led or tied the team in scoring 28 times.
HOT FROM BEYOND THE ARC: The Eagles turned in two consecutive outstanding 3-point shooting games last week. Wednesday (Feb. 13) the Eagles made 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) threes to establish a season’s best percent in a win over Bowling Green. Eastern turned right around Saturday (Feb. 16) and topped that effort by making 53.8 percent (7-of-13) of its threes in a win over Central Michigan.
PROTECTING HOME TURF: The Eagles will need to protect their home turf in the Mid-American Conference race with two of its final three league games scheduled to be played in the friendly confines of the Convocation Center. The Eagles have a March 1 meeting with Ball State followed by the regular-season finale (March 9) against Northern Illinois. Eastern has a road trip to Toledo (March 4). The MAC Tournament is set for March 12-15 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
LARGEST MARGIN SINCE 2004: When EMU won by 24 points against Toledo (Jan. 22) it marked the largest 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) versus a visiting Navy team, Jan. 7, 2004, under then-head coach Jim Boone.
