Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
9-8 (1-3MAC)
Central Michigan
8-8 (3-1MAC)
Men's Hoops Falls to CMU, 71-63
1/20/2010 9:23:48 PM | Men's Basketball
Eagles fall to 1-3 in league action with the loss
Box score.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Despite cutting a 19-point deficit to eight with less than one minute to play in the game, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team could not manage to knock off the Chippewas from Central Michigan University Wednesday night, Jan. 20, at the Rose Center, as the Eagles fell, 71-63, in a Mid-American Conference West Division match-up.
The loss drops EMU to 9-8 (1-3 MAC) on the year, while CMU improves to 8-8 (3-1 MAC) with the win.
Senior guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) paced the Eagles for the second straight game, scoring 16 points in the loss on 5-for-16 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the free throw line. Senior center Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) added 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field for the Eagles.
After shooting a dismal 25 percent from the field in the first half, the Eagles put together a solid second half, going 13-for-28 (47 percent) from the field, including five makes from beyond the arc. EMU won the battle on the glass, out-rebounding the Chippewas, 38-30, in the contest.
However, the Eagles lost the battle at the free throw line, as the team shot just 59.3 percent (16-for-27), while the Chippewas made 20-of-30 from the charity stripe (67 percent) in the victory.
Jordan Bitzer gave the Chippewas a five-point advantage with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half, as his three-pointer in the corner put EMU down, 16-11. Bitzer tallied a game-high 19 points at the half on 7-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Robbie Harman extended CMU's lead to 11 with 5:26 left, as his coast-to-coast lay-up following a four-point play on the previous possession made it a 22-11 game. CMU would close the half on a 16-7 run to go into the locker room with a 35-18 lead.
Coupled with 11 first-half turnovers, the Eagles struggled to find a rhythm on offensive, as the team shot just 25 percent (7-for-28) from the field. EMU out-rebounded CMU, 19-16, in the opening frame, including an 8-1 edge on the offensive glass.
The Eagles managed to cut the deficit to 13 with 10:44 remaining in the game, as junior Jay Higgins (Fayetteville, N.C.-IMG Academy-Hillsborough (Fla.) C.C.) split a pair from the charity stripe to make it a 46-33 game. Higgins made it a 10-point game with 9:09 remaining, as his three-pointer in the corner made it a 46-36 game, forcing CMU head coach Ernie Ziegler to call a timeout.
EMU managed to cut CMU's lead to single digits for the first time since the early stages of the contest, as Higgins drilled yet another three-pointer in the corner to pull the Eagles within eight points, 66-58. But despite out-scoring CMU in the second half, the Eagles could pull no closer, as the Chippewas kept the game just out of reach to escape with the win and improve to 3-1 in league action.
EMU is back in action Saturday, Jan. 23, when it hosts MAC West foe Ball State University at 2 p.m. at the Convocation Center. After taking on the Cardinals, the Eagles begin a six-game stretch against opponents from the MAC East, beginning with Bowling Green State University Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the Convocation Center.
