Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Central Michigan
Eagles Ousted From MAC Tournament With 62-49 Loss to CMU
3/10/2009 2:05:58 PM | Men's Basketball
Brandon Bowdry led the Eagles with 13 points and six boards in the loss.
CLEVELAND
The Eagles finish the season with an 8-24 record, while the Chippewas improve to 12-18 and advance to the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament to face No. 2 seeded
Redshirt sophomore forward Brandon Bowdry (St. Louis, Mo.-Taylor (Mich.) Truman) tallied a team-best 13 points and six rebounds in the loss, while CMU's Marcus Van led all scorers with 17 points.
Freshman guard Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Robichaud) recorded 11 points for the Eagles on 4-for-9 shooting, including a trio of three-pointers.
The Eagles found themselves down seven with 8:47 remaining in the opening frame, as CMU's Adrian Hunter connected from long distance to give the Chips an 18-11 advantage. The Eagles managed to cut CMU's lead to one, as a pair of Bowdry freebies with 6:12 remaining limited CMU to an 18-17 lead.
The Chippewas held a 26-21 lead at intermission, as Van led all scorers with 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field. The Eagles shot just 32 percent (6-for-19) in the first half, while CMU shot 46 percent (11-for-24) from the field and a maintained a 19-9 advantage on the boards.
The Chippewas built extended their lead early in the second half, as Jordan Bitzer hit a jumper in the lane with 16:34 remaining to give CMU a 32-23 advantage – their largest lead of the game.
The Eagles limited the Chippewas' lead to three with 13:19 left in the contest, as a 10-foot jumper by Bowdry made it a 32-29 game, forcing CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler to call a timeout.
CMU responded after the timeout, as Robbie Harman gave the Chippewas a commanding 10 point lead after scoring seven consecutive points to put the Eagles down, 43-33, with 9:26 remaining. Jeremy Allen extended CMU's lead to 13 points with 7:53 left, as his three-pointer from the corner gave the Chips a 48-35 advantage.
The Eagles responded with a 7-0 run to pull within six points, 48-42, but a pair of free throws coupled with an easy layup by Jacolby Hardiman put the Eagles back down 10 points. The Chippewas kept the Eagles at arm's length for the remainder of the contest to seal the victory and advance to the next round of the tournament.
