EMU Upset by NIU in First Round of MAC Tournament

Re-Watch the Game.

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — It had all the drama of a big tournament game and in the end the Northern Illinois University Huskies would make their shots count down the stretch to post a 55-52 upset win over the Eastern Michigan University Eagles here Monday, March 5, at the Convocation Center in a first-round game of the 2012 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament.

The visitors would build a five-point lead, 53-48, with just 30 seconds left, but EMU would cut the deficit to three, 55-52, on a three-point field goal by junior guard Derek Thompson (Detroit, Mich.-Melvindale-SEMO) with 12 ticks left.

EMU was forced to foul again and after the Huskies missed the first of a 1-and-1 free throw situation, EMU's Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio-Euclid) would get a chance at a three-point field goal to tie the game at the buzzer and his shot hit the backboard, bounced several times and finally spun out of the cylinder, ending the Eagles hopes at a last-second tie.

The loss ends the No. 5 seeded Eagles' season at 14-18 overall while No. 12 seeded Northern Illinois advances to the next round of the tournament, Wednesday, March 8, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio against Western Michigan. The Broncos recorded a 69-63 win over Ball State Monday to advance to the next round.

Other first-round games Monday had No. 11 seed Central Michigan upsetting No. 6 seed Bowling Green, 54-53; No. 7 seed Toledo beating No. 10 seed Miami, 60-53, and No. 8 seed Western Michigan beating No. 9 seed Ball State, 69-63.

In the loss to NIU, EMU would shoot just 34 percent for the game, making 16-of-47 shots and 6-of-23 triple tries for 26.1 percent. Northern would connect on 48.7 percent from the field, making 19-of-39 attempts and would also shoot 42.9 percent from beyond the arc, making 9-of-21.

Senior guard Darrell Lampley (Linden, N.J.-Linden-Lakeland C.C.) closed out his EMU career with 13 points and six assists while Harris would score 13 points with eight rebounds.

Northern, which won its first road game of the year in 15 attempts, was led by Tony Nixon with 14 points while Aksel Bolin tallied 13.

The Huskies opened the game with a three-point field goal by Bolin at the 19:42 mark, but both teams struggled offensively the rest of the half with Northern finally managing an 18-11 lead at intermission.

The Eagles shot just 13.6 percent from the field in the first half, making only 3-of-22 attempts while the visitors were shooting 41.2 percent, making 7-of-17. EMU was 0-of-9 from beyond the arc and Northern hit 3-of-8 triples.

NIU scored the first bucket of the second half and would build its lead to eight, 24-16, at the 17:14 mark before Lampley answered with a three to trim it to five, 24-19, just one minute later.

The Huskies would then go back up by nine, 28-19, with 16:02 left on two free throws by Nixon.

The Eagles would then cut it to a four-point game, 28-24, on two free throws by Lampley at the 14:18 mark and the EMU senior would add two more free throws to cut it to three, 29-26, with 13:32 left.

Lampley would go back to the foul line again and make the second of two attempts to tie the score at 29-all with 12:09 on the clock. He would then hit a driving layup to give the Eagles their first lead of the game, 31-29, at the 11:39 mark.

The two teams traded baskets over the next nine minutes with Northern going up by six at several junctures with EMU trailing by two, 49-47, with 1:39 left when Harris came up with a big block and NIU was called for a shot-clock violation at the end of the play.

The Eagles then worked the ball inside and Harris was fouled with 1:07 left and the junior big man made the first of two charity tosses to cut it to one, 49-48.

Northern would come right down and score on a layup by Nixon with 55 seconds remaining for a 51-48 NIU lead.

After the Eagles missed a wide-open three to tie it, the Green and White forced a jump ball with 34.2 seconds left, giving the home team another chance at tying the game.

Eastern would once again have a three-point shot go long and were forced to foul Northern's Bolin with 29.4 seconds left. The NIU big man made both free throws to give the Huskies a 53-48 lead, setting up the final flurry of activity over the final half minute.

Team Stats

Jamell Harris

Darrell Lampley

Derek Thompson

J.R. Sims

Eastern Michigan Athletics