Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
1-4
Monmouth
2-3
Men's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker to Monmouth, 64-63
12/3/2010 11:21:59 PM | Men's Basketball
Despite 28 points and 12 rebounds from Brandon Bowdry, Eagles suffer loss
Box score.
MOSCOW, Idaho (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker in the opening game of the Basketball Traveler's Classic, 64-63, to the Monmouth University Hawks, here in War Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, Friday, Dec. 3.
With the loss, EMU drops to 1-4 on the season while MU moves to 2-3.
Despite leading for much of the second half, and a 28 point and 12 rebound night by senior forward Brandon Bowdry (St. Louis, Mo.-Taylor (Mich.) Truman) the Eagles were unable to defend a long transition three-pointer in the waning second by Monmouth's Will Campbell which put the opposition ahead 64-63 and proved to be the final score of the game.
After heading into halftime with a slim lead, 33-29, the Eagles stormed out of the gates on the strength of back to back baskets by Bowdry to push its lead to 37-31. The tide would turn the Hawks way, as Eastern committed untimely turnovers and failed to connect on five of its next seven shots. Monmouth capitalized by turning EMU turnovers and missed baskets into points and taking a 41-40 advantage.
Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Robichaud) would nail a long-distance bomb for the Green and White to push the Eagles' advantage to four points, 45-41, but the lead again would not last. Mike Keitt and Will Campbell would score to close the gap and even the game at 49 apiece with 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
After exchanging baskets over the next five minutes, Bowdry again put the team on his back, scoring the final eight points of the game for the Eagles. With the Eagles up by two points, 63-61, Jay Higgins (Fayetteville, NC-IMG Academy Hillsborough (Fla.) C.C.) had a chance to extend the lead to four, but was unsuccessful at two free throw attempts with 13 second remaining. Off the rebound, MU would push the ball, finding a streaking Campbell in the corner for the game-winning transition three-pointer. The Eagles had one final chance to win the game with one second left in the game and inbounding the ball, but Bowdry was unable to get a shot off, bobbling an inbound pass as time expired.
In addition to Bowdry's game-highs 28 points and 12 boards, Green chipped in with 12 points, while Higgins added six with five assists, and Darrell Lampley (Linden, N.J.-Linden-Lakeland C.C.) added five points and six assists.
The Eagles shot 37 percent from the field while the Hawks shot 48 percent. The Eagles managed to outrebound MU 35-31 and also hit a season-high nine three-point field goals as a team.
Eastern Michigan will continue its play in the Basketball Traveler's Classic Saturday, Dec. 4, as it takes on North Dakota at 5:30 p.m. PST.
