Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Northern Illinois
EMU Drops 72-52 Decision at NIU
1/20/2009 10:20:16 PM | Men's Basketball
Poor shooting dooms the Eagles in loss
Box score.
DeKALB, Ill. — For the second game in a row the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team could not overcome a poor shooting night, dropping a 72-52 Mid-American Conference West Division game to the Northern Illinois University Huskies here Tuesday night, Jan. 20, in the Convocation Center.
The Eagles, now 3-15 overall and 1-3 in MAC play, made just 19-of-50 field goal attempts in the game for 38 percent while NIU was hitting 27-of-43 field-goal attempts. EMU also suffered at the charity stripe, making only 13-of-29 attempts (44.8 percent)
Redshirt sohomore Brandon Bowdry (St. Louis, Mo.-Taylor (Mich.) Truman) led the Eagles with 16 points and nine rebounds while junior center Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) added 10 before fouling out of the game at the 8:29 mark of the second half.
NIU, now 6-10 overall and 2-2 in league action, was paced by center Sean Kowal with 20 while Darion “Jake” Anderson chipped in 16.
The home squad opened the game by racing to an 11-4 lead at the first media time out with 15:11 left after four of the five starters contributed. The Huskies continued their offensive onslaught, increasing their lead to 18-4 before the Eagles managed a layup by Kamil Janton (Tarnow, Poland-Chicago Bartlett) at the 12:16 mark.
The Eagles could not get their offense untracked over the final 12 minutes, however, making just 8-of-25 field-goal attempts (32.0 percent) and 1-of-8 free throws. NIU connected on 61.9 percent of its field goals (13-of-21) while also controlling the battle of the boards, 21-12, to build a 35-17 halftime lead.
The Eagles began the second half with a flurry, scoring six unanswered points, four by Dobbins, but the EMU big man was called for his fourth foul with 16:12 left in the game and went to the bench.
Northern picked up its offense with Dobbins out of the lineup and built an 18-point lead, 49-31, with 12:33 left.
From that point the two teams traded buckets the remainder of the game with NIU closing out with the 20-point win, 72-52.
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