EMU Edged by Green Bay, 54-49, in Sears BracketBuster Game

GREEN BAY, Wisc. (EMUEagles.com) — The last non-conference regular-season game ended on a sour note for the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team as the Eagles dropped a 54-49 decision to the Green Bay Phoenix here Saturday, Feb. 18, in the Resch Center in the annual Sears BracketBuster matchup.

Head Coach Rob Murphy's Mid-American Conference Eagles came back from an eight-point deficit with 3:42 left to cut the deficit to three, 50-47, with 1:48 left on a three-point field goal by senior guard Darrell Lampley (Linden, N.J.-Linden-Lakeland C.C.).

After two free throws by Green Bay's Keifer Sykes boosted the home team's lead back to five, Eastern senior guard Antonio Green (Inkster, Mich.-Dearborn Heights Robichaud) made two of three free throws with 24.3 seconds left to make it 52-49, but 7-foot-1 center Alec Brown would connect on two free throws with 21.5 left and Green Bay would hold on to post the five-point win.

Eastern, now 11-16 on the season, was led by Lampley with 13 points while junior guard Derek Thompson (Detroit, Mich.-Melvindale-SEMO) added 12 points.

Green Bay, which improved to 12-14 with the win, was paced by guards Sykes and Kam Cerroni with 10 points each. Brown had nine points with 13 rebounds.

Eastern shot 32.7 percent from the field, making 18-of-55 field goals and 6-of-21 triples for 28.6 percent. The Eagles made just 7-of-14 free throws for 50 percent and were out-rebounded, 41-29.

Green Bay shot 40 percent from the field, making 18-of-45 field-goal attempts and the Phoenix were red-hot from the free-throw line, making 15-of-18 for 83.3 percent.

The Eagles came out with a 4-0 run to start the game on a jumper by junior forward Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid) and a layup by sophomore guard Austin Harper (Grand Haven, Mich.-Grand Haven-Glen Oaks C.C.).

The home squad would finally heat up enough on offense to take an 8-7 lead at the 11:38 mark on a layup by Brennan Cougill.

Thompson would then hit the first of two straight threes to give EMU a 10-8 lead with 10:22 left, but the Phoenix would run off the next six points for a 14-10 lead.

The Phoenix would built their advantage to as much as seven, 24-17, with 1:10 left in the half, but junior guard J.R. Smith (Fort Wayne, Ind.-Snider) would bury a long three from the top of the three-point arc to cut the lead to four, 24-20, with 52.6 left. Neither team was able to add any points the rest of the half.

EMU would shoot just 30.4 from the field in the first half, making 7-of-23 shots, but the Phoenix were only a little better as they made 8-of-23 for 34.8 percent. Green Bay turned in over 10 times in the half to nine for the Eagles and the home team held a big, 21-13, edge on the boards.

Green Bay came out of halftime with five answered points to forge a 29-20 lead before Harris quieted the crowd with a layup to make it a seven-point game, 29-22, with 16:07 left.

The Phoenix would built its lead back to 10, 38-28, but EMU had the answer once again, going on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to three, 38-35, with the last three of that series coming on a triple from Thompson at the 6:40 mark.

The Eagles kept coming back late in the game, setting up the exciting last three minutes.

The Eagles will now prepare of their final four MAC games of the year, starting with two home contests next week in the Convocation Center. Eastern is slated to host Northern Illinois Wednesday, Feb. 22, and Ball State Saturday, Feb. 25.

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Team Stats

Darrell Lampley

Derek Thompson

Jamell Harris

Antonio Green

Eastern Michigan Athletics