Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
11-10 (3-5MAC)
Akron
15-7 (5-3MAC)
EMU Knocks Off MAC East Division Co-Leader Akron on the Road
2/1/2010 9:43:56 PM | Men's Basketball
EMU Comes from Behind in Final Four Minutes for the Victory
Box score.
AKRON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team came up with a great team effort to knock off Mid-American Conference East Division co-leader the University of Akron, 62-59, here Monday, Feb. 1, in James A. Rhodes Arena.
Trailing by a 55-54 count with 4:10 left in the game, the Eagles just some timely offense and stingy defense to out-score the home team, 8-4, the rest of the way for the victory.
Junior college forward Jay Higgins (Fayetteville, N.C.-IMG Academy-Hillsborough C.C.) then quieted the crowd with a big three-point shot at the 1:54 mark to give the Eagles a 57-55 advantage. Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) then added a driving layup for a 59-55 lead with 41:8 seconds left.
After a layup by Jimmy Conyers pulled Akron within two, 59-57, Higgins made the front end of a one-and one, missing the second. Akron's Brett McKnight then missed a wide-open three with 5.4 seconds left and Akron fouled Medlock who made two free throws for a 62-57 EMU lead with just 3.4 left.
Akron's Steve McNees then made a driving layup as the buzzer sounded, giving EMU the 62-59 victory.
The Eagles, now 11-10 overall and 3-5 in MAC action, placed four players in double figures with Higgins leading the way with 17 followed by Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Dearborn Heights Robichaud) with 14, and Medlock and Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) with 12 each.
Akron, now 15-7 overall and 5-3 in the MAC, was led by McKnight with 13.
The Eagles jumped out to a quick start on four straight points by Medlock, seven straight scores by Green and a three by Higgins to give Eastern a 14-8 lead with 13:45 on the clock.
The two teams traded buckets until the Zips tied the game at 29-all on a three-point field goal by Ronnie Steward at the 3:23 mark.
Akron grabbed a 32-29 lead before Medlock closed out the half with two free throws to make it 32-31 in favor of the Zips at the intermission.
Higgins connected on four triples in the first half to lead all scorers with 12 points while Green added nine and Medlock eight. Akron was paced by Chris McKnight with seven.
Eastern opened the second half with a flurry, jumping to a 37-34 lead before the Zips fought back to take a 38-37 advantage at the 16:26 mark.
The Eagles then eight unanswered points for a 45-38 lead with 13:29 left in the game.
Eastern went cold after that and saw the Zips run on a 13-6 run for a 51-51 tie with 6:46 remaining.
From there the Eagles went up, 54-51, but once again Akron was up to the task, coming back for a 55-54 lead with 4:10 left, setting up the final rally by the Eagles.
The Eagles now return home for two straight MAC homes against, hosting Kent State Thursday, Feb. 4, followed by a Saturday, Feb. 6, contest against the Ohio University Bobcats.
