Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
9-6 (1-1MAC)
Toledo
3-13 (0-2MAC)
Return of Dobbins Ignites Eagles to 74-59 Win Over Rockets
1/13/2010 9:31:21 PM | Men's Basketball
Eastern passes 2008-09 win total just 15 games into 2009-10 season
Click Here to Re-Watch the Game of All-Access.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) –The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team came back from a low-scoring first half to turn on the offense in the second half for a 74-59 win over a visiting University of Toledo team here Wednesday, Jan. 13, in a Mid-American Conference West Division game in the Convocation Center.
The Eagles held a slim, 32-30, first-half lead and went on to out-score the visitors, 42-29, in the second half to improve to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in MAC action. The loss dropped Toledo to 3-13 overall and 0-2 in league play.
Redshirt junior forward Brandon Bowdry (St. Louis, Mo.-Taylor (Mich.) Truman) and senior center Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville), playing in his first game after missing six straight with a stress fracture in his left leg, led the Eagles with 18 points each while senior guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) tallied 12 and sophomore guard Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Dearborn Heights Robichaud) added 10 off the bench. Bowdry also added 10 rebounds, good for his ninth double-double of the season and the 16th of his career.
The Rockets were led by a pair of freshmen with Jake Barnett scoring 20 points and Malcolm Griffin adding a career-high 17.
Bowdry, who entered the game needing just two points to reach the 1,000-point plateau, reached that level at the 16:19 mark when he connected on a short jumper to stake the Eagles to a 7-4 lead. He would add six more points over the next three minutes as the Eagles built the lead to four, 17-13, halfway through the first stanza.
The two teams would battle through six ties in the first half before the Eagles exited with a 32-30 lead. Bowdry had 10 points and four rebounds in the first half to lead EMU while Barnett paced the Rockets with 13 points.
Eastern shot 42.9 from the floor (12-of-28) while Toledo was hitting an even .500 (12-of-24) in the first 20 minutes. The Eagles made just 1-of-9 three-point shots and only 7-of-13 free throws.
The Eagles stormed out of halftime and scored the first seven points to take a 39-30 lead in the first two minutes of play.
Eastern would increase its lead to 13, 53-40, with 12:39 left in the game on two free tosses by Medlock.
The Eagles then ran the advantage to 25, 65-40, with 8:03 left after going on a 14-0 run, topped by four straight points from Dobbins and a big three-pointer by redshirt sophomore guard L.J. Frazier (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ypsilanti).
From that point on the Eagles cruised to the 74-59 victory.
The Eagles will head to DeKalb, Ill. Saturday, Jan. 16, for a West Division battle with the Northern Illinois University Huskies. Tipoff time is 1 p.m.
