Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
0-27-9; MAC
Bowling Green
1-16-9; MAC
Late Bowling Green Three Drops EMU Hoops, 46-44
1/12/2013 9:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Eagles drop to 7-9 on the season, 0-2 in MAC play
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team fell in the closing seconds Saturday, Jan. 12 in Bowling Green, as a Jordon Crawford three with six seconds left gave the Falcons a two-point advantage over the Eagles, 46-44.
Derek Thompson (Detroit, Mich. – Melvindale) led the Eagles in scoring with 11 points off the bench, all in the second half. Da'Shonte Riley (Detroit, Mich. – Detroit Country Day) added seven points and 10 rebounds while Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio – Euclid) added six points and 11 boards.
Eastern (7-9, 0-2 MAC) shot 15-of-32 for a 28.8 shooting percentage on the evening, going 5-of20 from the floor in the second half. The Eagles did find success at the foul line, making 10-of-12 free throws.
A'uston Calhoun led Bowling Green (6-9, 1-1 MAC) in both scoring and rebounding with 17 points and 7 caroms. Crawford was the only other Falcon in double-digits with 11 points. BGSU shot 18-of-52 from the floor for 34.6 percent as the Eagles' defense forced 20 turnovers and held the Falcons to 5-of-22 shooting from beyond the arc.
Glenn Bryant (Detroit, Mich. – Oak Hill Academy) got the Eagles the lead to start the contest on a smooth jumper from the charity stripe. After the Falcons responded with a bucket of their own, Jalen Ross (Greensboro, N.C. – Greensboro Day School)nailed a three from the top of the key. A few possessions later, Ross took a steal to the bucket and couldn't convert. However, Harris was there for the put-back slam to make it 7-2 EMU three minutes into the game.
The Green and White defense came to play, forcing four turnovers along with just 2-of-9 shooting for the Falcons in the first seven minutes of the contest.
After Calhoun scored the first eight points for BGSU, the Falcons took its first lead of the game with a three-pointer from Crawford. However, EMU took the lead right back with a jumper to Daylen Harrison (Akron, Ohio – St. Vincent-St. Mary). J.R. Sims (Fort Wayne, Ind. – Snider) added a layup to increase the lead to three, 14-11 with 9:06 remaining in the first half.
The two MAC foes continued to go back-and-forth throughout the rest of a tightly-contested first half. Following four straight points by the Falcons to give them the lead back at the 3:17 mark of the first half, Head Coach Rob Murphy took a timeout to rally his squad. The timeout paid off as Eastern went on a 7-0 run to end the half, going into the locker room with a 25-20 lead.
The Eagles shot 31.3 percent in the first half led by seven points from Harrison. Harris turned in an impressive first twenty minutes with six points and eight rebounds. On the defensive side of the ball, EMU forced 14 turnovers and didn't let Calhoun score for the rest of the half after he scored the Falcons' first eight points.
BGSU shot 32.1 percent from the floor and also won the rebounding battle, 23-18, in the first half. Calhoun's eight points led the Falcons going into the break.
Bowling Green came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half, making 4-of-6 shots and forcing five EMU turnovers to go on a 9-0 to take a 29-25 lead with 15:18 remaining in the game.
Thompson finally ended the five-minute scoring drought, converting two free throws to cut the lead in half. The senior guard then added a deep three to give EMU the lead back. After both teams exchanged buckets and the lead, Eastern held a 32-31 advantage at the 12:43 mark of the second half.
The Eagles' defense continued to play a tough 2-3 zone defense as Bowling Green went through a six-minute stretch without a field goal. BGSU guard Anthony Henderson changed that, hitting a three to tie the game at 41. On the other side of the floor, Eastern answered with a Riley turnaround, baseline jumper to make it 43-41 EMU going into the final media timeout at the 3:55 mark.
With the Green and White holding on to a slim one-point advantage, Bowling Green missed a three, but forced a jump ball to retain possession with only 12 seconds left. Coming out of a timeout, Crawford nailed a three from the top of the key to give the Falcons a 46-44 lead with six seconds remaining in the game, and Coach Murphy took a timeout to talk things over.
Out of the stoppage of play, Thompson drove and launched a deep three that fell short of the rim as Bowling Green held on to take the win, 46-44.
After starting the conference slate on the road for two contests, the Eagles return to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center to face Central Michigan at 7 p.m., Tuesday Jan. 15.
