EMU Plays No. 3 seed Akron in MAC Quarterfinal, Thursday

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NO. 6 SEED EMU TO PLAY NO. 3 SEED AKRON IN MAC QUARTERFINAL: The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2010 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament with a come-from-behind 65-59 win over No. 11 seed Northern Illinois Sunday, March 7, at home in the Convocation Center. The Eagles will now head to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio to square off against No. 3 seed University of Akron at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 11, in the quarterfinal round. The winner of the EMU-Akron game will advance to the semifinal round Friday, March 12, at 7 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet in the Championship Game, Saturday, March 13, at 6 p.m. in a game to be televised on ESPN2.

CHECKING THE SERIES WITH AKRON: The Eagles and Zips met just once in 2009-10 and EMU recorded a 62-59 win, Feb. 1, in Akron, Ohio, breaking a seven-game Akron winning streak in the series. EMU leads the series, that began in the 1967-68 season, with an 18-17 record.
Head Coach Charles E. Ramsey's Eagles enter Thursday's, March 11, game with a 17-14 overall record after the first-round win over NIU.
Head Coach Keith Dambrot's Zips are currently 22-9 overall and finished the regular season with a 12-4 MAC mark, good for second place in the final standings. The Zips lost a 74-61 decision at home Friday, March 5, to the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Dambrot, now in his sixth year as Akron's head man, was an assistant coach at EMU from 1986-87 through the 1988-89 season.

SECOND TIME IN THREE SEASONS: The EMU men's basketball team has advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the second time in the last three years. EMU won Sunday's, March 7, first-round game over NIU and also won the first game in the 2007-08 tourney, 51-48, over Ball State before falling to Toledo, 62-54, in the quarterfinal.

SEVENTH MAC TOURNAMENT HOME GAME: When EMU hosted Northern Illinois University Sunday, March 7, in the first round of the 2010 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament it marked the seventh time that Eastern has hosted a first-round game. EMU has a 5-2 record in those games, five of which were played in Bowen Field House with the last two played in the Convocation Center. EMU lost a 64-51 decision to Miami University in the other Convo tournament contest, March 1, 2000. EMU and Northern Illinois were meeting for the first time in MAC post-season play.

THE LAST TIME: EMU traveled to Akron, Ohio, Feb. 1, 2010, and broke a seven-game Zips' series winning streak with a 62-59 victory. Junior college forward Jay Higgins (Fayetteville, N.C.-IMG Academy-Hillsborough (Fla.) J.C.) led the Eagles with 17 points, connecting on 5-of-7 three-point field goals and 2-of-4 free throws. Sophomore guard Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Dearborn Heights Robichaud) added 14, while senior center Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) and senior point guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) tallied 12 each.
Akron was led by Brett McKnight with 13 points.

HEADING HOME: Two EMU players will be heading back to Cleveland with the rest of the Eagles for the quarterfinal game Thursday, March 11, against Akron. Senior center Justin Dobbins is a native of Cleveland and played his high school basketball at Glenville in Cleveland. True freshman teammate Jamell Harris played at nearby Euclid H.S.

FOUR IN DOUBLES: EMU placed four players in double figures in the 65-59 win over Northern Illinois Sunday, March 7, at home in the first round of the 2010 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament. Junior Brandon Bowdry (St. Louis, Mo.-Taylor (Mich.) Truman) led the Eagles with 19 points and 12 rebounds while senior center Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville) added 13, senior Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) scored 11 and junior Jay Higgins (Fayetteville, N.C.-IMG Academy-Hillsborough (Fla.) C.C.) chipped in 10.

MEDLOCK MAKES IT 27 FOR 27: EMU senior point guard Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright) turned in the 27th 20+ scoring game of his career with a game-high 27 points in a 56-55 loss to Central Michigan Thursday, March 4, in the 2009-10 regular-season finale. Medlock had five 20-point efforts as a freshman and sophomore, eight as a junior and nine this season.

BEST IN THE CONVO: EMU's 17 wins this year are the most single-season victories for the Eagles since the team moved to the Convocation Center for the 1998-99 campaign, a total of 11 seasons. The 17 wins is also the best for an EMU men's basketball team since the 1997-98 squad won 20.

MEDLOCK, DOBBINS, BOWDRY CLIMB EMU CAREER LADDERS: The EMU trio of Carlos Medlock (Detroit, Mich.-Murray Wright), Justin Dobbins (Cleveland, Ohio-Glenville), and Brandon Bowdry (St. Louis, Mo.-Taylor (Mich.) Truman) are all making major moves up the EMU career rankings in scoring, rebounding, three-point shooting, assists and free-throw shooting. Medlock is now sixth in career scoring with 1,532 points. Bowdry is 17th at 1,237 and Dobbins is 24th with 1,070. Bowdry has 708 career rebounds for a tie for eighth with Bob Riddle (1974-77). Dobbins is 19th in rebounding with 544 and Medlock is tied for 59th with Isaac Henderson (1987-89) at 319. Medlock is second in three-point shooting with 208 career triples, is sixth in career assists at 397 and is third in free throws made with 454.

RAMSEY NOW AT 59: EMU men's Head Basketball Coach Charles E. Ramsey reached the 50-win plateau with the Eagles' 59-47 non-conference win over a visiting Chicago State team, Jan. 3. He added No. 59, March 7, at home against Northern Illinois. Ramsey is the seventh head coach in EMU men's basketball history to record a minimum of 50 career victories. Ben Braun, currently the head coach at Rice University, is the all-time coaching leader with 185 wins.

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