Eastern Michigan Athletics

Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Men's Basketball Records Road Win at Radford
12/20/2011 10:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Strong second-half shooting effort leads the Eagles to 52-48 victory
RADFORD, Va. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team used a strong second-half shooting effort to snap a five-game losing streak and post a 52-48 road win against the Radford University Highlanders here Tuesday, Dec. 20, in a non-conference game played in Dedmon Center.
Head Coach Rob Murphy's Eagles, now 5-6 on the season, came back from a 21-all halftime tie to hit six three-point field goals in the second half on the way to the win over Radford, now 3-10 on the season.
Eastern built a six-point second-half lead with 43.9 seconds left and made some crucial foul shots down the stretch to preserve the win.
Senior Quintin Dailey (Las Vegas, Nev.-Bishop Gorman-Sheridan C.C.) led the Eagles with a career-high 13 points, including making 3-of-4 triples, two straight during a key stretch midway in the second half.
The Eagles finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field, making 16-of-39 and shot a blistering 46.7 from beyond the three-point arc, making 7-of-15. Eastern also had a strong effort from the free-throw line, making 13-of-17. Eastern also held a 32-28 rebound edge.
Radford shot just 32.1 percent, making 17-of-53 field goals and just 8-of-27 triple tries. The Highlanders had two 18-point scorers in the game with both Jareal Smith and RJ Price hitting that mark.
The game marked the debut of 7-foot center Da'Shonte Riley (Detroit, Mich.-Country Day-Syracuse) who was playing his first game as an Eagle after being granted an NCAA eligibility waiver after transferring from Syracuse University this fall. He scored eight points with four rebounds in his EMU opener.
Senior guard Darrell Lampley (Linden, N.J.-Linden-Lakeland C.C.) put the Eagles on the board first with two free throws at the 19:29 mark.
Riley made the most of his first jumper for the Eagles, connecting on an eight-foot bank shot at the 15:28 mark and he would add another short banker at 14:31 to give the Eagles an 8-7 lead.
The home squad would build a five-point lead, 21-16, on Smith's second three-point field goal of the half, but the Eagles would fight back to tie it at 21-all on a triple by Dailey at the 2:17 mark.
The half would end with the score knotted at 21. The Eagles would finish the first half shooting 39.1 percent from the field on 9-of-23 while holding Radford to just 29.6 percent on 8-of-28 attempts. EMU held a slight17-16 advantage on the boards. Riley was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in the first half for eight points with three rebounds.
Radford would open the second half out-scoring the Eagles, 10-6, to gain a four-point lead, 31-27, at the 13:53 mark, but two free throws and two triples by Dailey put the Eagles on top, 33-31, at the 12:08 mark of the second half.
EMU would go on to slowly build a six-point lead, 46-40, with 43.9 left and saw its advantage dip to two twice in the late going before holding on for the four-point win.
The Eagles will stay in Virginia, moving just 15 miles down the road from Radford to square off with Virginia Tech University Thursday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m. in Cassel Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.
Team Stats
EMU
RAD
FG%
.410
.321
3FG%
.467
.296
FT%
.765
.857
RB
32
28
TO
14
10
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
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