Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
1-1
The Citadel
2-1
Men's Basketball Falls to the Citadel, 63-56
11/20/2009 8:47:32 PM | Men's Basketball
The Eagles drop game one of the HCF Challenge in Springfield, Mo.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team dropped its opening game of the Hispanic College Fund Challenge Friday night, Nov. 20, at JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo., as the Bulldogs from the Citadel handed the Eagles a 63-56 loss.
Redshirt junior forward Brandon Bowdry (St. Louis, Mo.-Taylor (Mich.) Truman) scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in his return to the Show Me State, but the Citadel's Cameron Wells turned in a game-high 24 points on 7-for-18 shooting and 10-for-12 shooting from the free throw line to lead the Bulldogs.
The Eagles (1-1) lost the battle on the boards, as the Citadel (2-1) out-rebounded EMU, 33-24, while also forcing the Eagles into 17 turnovers in the loss.
The Eagles got off to a slow start in the first half to fall behind early, as a three-pointer by the Citadel's Joe Wolfinger gave the Bulldogs a 21-14 advantage with 7:43 remaining in the opening frame. But the Eagles came roaring back, as a three-pointer by sophomore L.J. Frazier (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ypsilanti) and a pair of free throws by true freshman Matt Balkema (Warren, Mich.-Cousino) cut the Citadel's lead to two with less than four minutes remaining.
The two teams shot fairly similar from the field in the first 20 minutes, but the Citadel went into the locker room ahead, 26-22. The Bulldogs won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding the Eagles 17-13 in the first half.
The two teams battled back and forth for position in the second half, but the Eagles never managed to take the lead until sophomore Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Robichaud) drove to the basket for a lay-up and foul to complete a three-point play and give EMU a 52-50 advantage.
But a Wells jumper and three-pointer by Zach Urbanus quickly gave the Citadel the lead, 58-52, with under three minutes left in the game.
Down four with 1:08 remaining in the game, the Eagles looked for a defensive stop on the opposite end of the floor, but senior Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) picked up his third foul with 40 seconds left on the clock to send Wells to the free throw line and extend the Citadel's lead. Medlock finished with 10 points in his second game back from injury, while junior transfer Jay Higgins (Fayetteville, N.C.-IMG Academy-Hillsborough C.C.) also pitched in 10 for the Eagles.
Senior Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) turned in a solid night in the loss, going 6-for-7 from the field to finish with 12 points in 32 minutes.
EMU is back in action tomorrow, Nov. 21, for its second game of the HCF Challenge when they take on the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore at 5:30 p.m. at JQH Arena.
