Eagles Host Concordia in Cross County Battle

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After knocking off Albion College, 77-45, in the 2013-14 regular season opener, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team sets its sights on a 2-0 start to the season. EMU will welcome cross-Washtenaw County rival Concordia University into the Convocation Center for a 7 p.m. matchup. Eastern is 1-0 on the season while the Cardinals cross the border from Ann Arbor into Ypsilanti with a record of 1-2 after falling to both the University of Saint Francis and St. Catherine's last weekend, Nov. 8-9.

The Eagles moved to 1-0 on the year after using double-digit scoring performances from Karrington Ward (17), Ray Lee (13), Glenn Bryant (12) and Mike Talley (10) to take down Albion College, starting this year's campaign on a positive note.

WHAT'S TO COME: The Green and White remain at home for the first five games of the 2013-14 season. Eastern opened with Albion, Nov. 8, and will host both Concordia, Nov. 12, and Robert Morris, Nov. 14, this week. Next week, the Eagles will welcome both Cleveland State, Nov. 18, and Texas-Arlington, Nov. 23, into the Convocation Center for games before finally hitting the road to take on the current No. 1-ranked team in the nation, Kentucky, Nov. 27.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' contest with the Cardinals will air on Eastern Michigan's internet based web stream, Eagle All-Access. Veteran "Voice of the Eagles" Chad Bush will serve as EMU's play-by-play announcer, while Sean Hostetter will be the analyst of the Green and White's opening contest.

THE BATTLE OF WASHTENAW COUNTY: Tuesday evening's game with the Concordia Cardinals will be just the fourth regular season game in which these two teams have squared off in the history of each program. The Green and White hold a 3-0 record against the Cardinals. The last time these two teams hit the hardwood was Nov. 23, 2003 when the Eagles laid a 31-point thrashing on Concordia. Eastern Michigan's history with Concordia dates back to just 12 years ago during the 2001-02 season. In the fourth season since EMU started playing at the Convocation Center, the Green and White locked up with Concordia, Dec. 19. The Eagles were on the positive end of another 31-point victory, 85-54.

ANOTHER BLOCK PARTY AT THE CONVO: Eastern Michigan basketball has prided itself on its stingy defense since Head Coach Rob Murphy took over in Ypsilanti. The Eagles continued that trend Friday, Nov. 8, when they held Albion to just 45 points in the season opener.

Not only did the Green and White hold the Brits to 45 points, but they blocked 10 shots in the game. Da'Shonte Riley and Glenn Bryant were the hosts of the block party. Bryant blocked a trio of the Britons' shots while Riley rejected seven Albion attempts. The seven blocked shots tie a career-high for the senior center and the second-most in Eastern Michigan single game history. The Detroit, Mich. native accomplished that feat in his first season donning the Green and White when Eastern traveled to Buffalo, N.Y. for a contest with the Buffalo Bulls. Despite a 65-47 loss at the hands of the Bulls, Riley was the story of the contest as he turned away seven shots for the first time since Jamell Harris did so against Madonna University, Nov. 17, 2010. All-time EMU leading shot-blocker, Theron Wilson, holds the all-time single game record with eight, while also turning away seven blocks in a single game on two separate occasions.

NO FIRST GAME JITTERS: Multiple newcomers to the 2013-14 men's basketball squad were impressive in their first games donning the Green and White. Karrington Ward contributed 17 points in the opener, while Mike Talley poured in 10 points with five rebounds and four assists in the first game he played for EMU. Darell Combs and Mo Hughley each contributed to the Eagles' victory. Despite not scoring, Combs was able to record four assists, while Hughley pulled down two offensive rebounds and recorded the first basket of his short EMU career.

FOR THE 117th TIME: The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team kicked off its 117th season of competition Friday, Nov. 8, when the Eagles downed the Albion College Britons, 77-45. Eastern played its first season in 1897-98 and split games with Detroit, losing a 2-0 decision before coming back for a 4-0 victory. The Eagles are are now 69-48 in season openers.

ETCHING HIS NAME IN THE RECORD BOOK: Eastern Michigan senior center Da'Shonte Riley has made a name for himself on the defensive side of the court at Eastern Michigan. Riley has totaled 103 blocks in just over two seasons donning the Green and White. That number ranks as the fifth-most rejections in a career at EMU. Theron Wilson holds the all-time record, posting 257 blocks from 1992-96.

Last season, Riley turned away 67 shots. That number ranked as the fifth-most in a single season at Eastern. He is also tied for the second-most blocks (7) in a single game. The Detroit, Mich. native posted seven rejections against Buffalo, Jan. 24, 2012 and most recently against Albion, Nov. 8. Wilson also holds the single game record with eight blocks.

FLOCK OF EAGLES CONTRIBUTE TO OPENING WIN: Eastern used solid performances across the board to take down Albion on Friday, Nov. 8. The Eagles had four student-athletes pour in double digit point performances, while stingy defense held the Britons to just 45 points on 13-of-52 shooting for a 25.0 percent shooting percentage.

Eastern had four Eagles in double digit scoring, led by Karrington Ward with 17 points in the afternoon contest. Ray Lee and Glenn Bryant had 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Mike Talley ontributed 10. Talley, Darell Combs and Da'Shonte Riley each dished out four assists in the win. Riley's four dimes were a career-high.

Defensively, Riley tied his career-high in blocks, rejecting seven of the Britons' shots and led the team in steals with three. He also tied for a team-high in rebounds with Talley, pulling down five. The entire EMU squad put in a solid effort under the glass, as they out-rebounded Albion 41 to 33.

THE EAGLES IN LID-LIFTERS: Eastern Michigan has played 116 seasons to this point in the university's existence. The Eagles are 67-49 in those 116 season opening games. The Green and White's first campaign was in 1897-88 when they dropped a contest to Detroit. EMU did not win a season opener until its third year, 1899-1900.

A ROUT IN THE WARMUP: The Eagles hosted Marygrove College, Nov. 4, for an exhibition matchup. The Green and White scorched the Mustangs, 101-38, in the contest, thanks in part to an offensive effort in which Eastern shot 40-for-78 from the floor, good for a shooting percentage of 51.3 percent.

Glenn Bryant led on the offensive front as he notched 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Daylen Harrison had 15 points on the night, while Mike Talley dropped in 11 points. Junior Karrington Ward led EMU under the basket pulling down 10 rebounds with seven on the defensive side of the ball. The Eagles totaled 10 blocks on the night, which was just two shy of the Mustangs' field goal total. Bryant rejected four shots, while Da'Shonte Riley turned away three and Ward had two blocks of his own.

EMU PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN THE MAC WEST: The EMU men's basketball team was picked to finish third in the West Division in the 2013-14 Mid-American Conference preseason poll by the MAC News Media Panel. The announcement was made in Cleveland Tuesday, Oct. 29. Along with the preseason poll, EMU senior Glenn Bryant was named to the 2013-14 West Division Preseason All-MAC Team.

The poll was announced prior to the league's preseason media teleconference and was determined by a 25-member media panel. That panel also selected the preseason All-MAC teams and the Eagles did not have a representative on any of those squads.
Third-year Head Coach Rob Murphy and his Eagles received 101 votes, which was shy of the University of Toledo's 149 points and Western Michigan University's 108 votes. Following Toledo, WMU and EMU in the poll was Ball State University (89), Central Michigan University (50) and Northern Illinois University (28).

UT received 24 first-place votes and seven to win the conference tournament, while the Green and White was the only other squad in the West to receive any first-place votes with one.

OPENING UP THE YEAR IN NCAA DIVISION I: For the second straight season, Eastern will opened up the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball season with Friday's 77-45 win over Albion. Last season the Eagles knocked off Rochester College, 66-52, in the Green and White's first contest, Nov. 9. That game was the first of the 2012 EMU "Ice Man" Classic which was played at Noon as well.

A PAIR OF EAGLES NAMED IN THE TOP-25 MAC PLAYERS OF 2013-14: Both Glenn Bryant and Daylen Harrison were named to HustleBelt.com's Mid-American Conference top-25 players in 2013-14. Harrison started the countdown after being named the 25th best player in the conference, while Bryant was a top-10 choice according to Hustle Belt. The Detroit, Mich. native earned the 10th spot on the list.

BRYANT EARNS ALL-MAC HONORABLE MENTION ACCOLADES: Eastern Michigan University men's basketball forward Glenn Bryant was named an All-Mid-American Conference honorable mention award winner Monday, March 11, the league office announced.
Bryant finished the regular season averaging 10.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. The Detroit, Mich. native led the Eagles in scoring with 11.5 points per game in MAC contests, while shooting 44.1 percent from the floor. The 6-foot-8 redshirt-junior was 18th in conference games in scoring, while also posting 1.5 blocks per game, which was tied for sixth in the conference.

A NEW FLOCK OF EAGLES: Eastern has a multitude of new student-athletes on its men's basketball roster for the 2013-14 campaign. The Eagles have eight new faces on this season's squad including six transfers. Olalekan Ajayi, Darell Combs, Mo Hughley, Jordan Martin, Jodan Price and Karrington Ward each transferred from other institutions to join the EMU squad. Ward leads the transfers coming into Eastern as a two-time NJCAA All-American. Hughley and Price each had NCAA Division I experience under their belts already. Hughley comes to Eastern from California State University-Bakersfield. Hughley will not have to sit out this season because he is coming to the Eagles roster as a graduate student who still has one year of eligibility remaining. Price, however, transferred to EMU from DePaul University and will have to sit out the 2013-14 season due to transfer rules.

The Green and White had a pair of freshmen walk-ons earn spots on the Eagles' squad. Ali Farhat and Trent Perry join EMU's team after graduating from high school. Farhat attended Dearborn High School in Dearborn, Mich. while Perry comes from the southern part of the U.S. traveling to Eastern from Irving, Texas.

Mike Talley will most likely make an immediate impact for Rob Murphy's Eagles. Although Talley is not a new face to the roster, he sat out last season after transferring to Eastern from Duquesne University.

40th MAC SEASON: The 2013-14 season will also be the 40th for the Eagles in the Mid-American Conference. The first year of MAC play for EMU was 1974-75 when the then-Hurons went 12-14 and 4-9 in league play.
Eastern has won three Mid-American Conference championships: 1987-88, 1990-91 and 1995-96. The Green and White captured MAC Tournament crowns in all three of those seasons, in addition to winning the tournament title in 1997-98. In 2011-12, the Eagles captured their first-ever Mid-American Conference West Division title.

EAGLES FACE FOES FROM 10 LEAGUES: The 2013-14 EMU men's basketball team will square off against teams from at least 10 different leagues. In addition to its Mid-American Conference schedule that starts Wednesday, Jan. 8, the Eagles will meet teams from the Big Ten (Purdue), the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (Albion), the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (Robert Morris), Horizon (Cleveland State, Green Bay and Oakland), Sun Belt (Texas-Arlington), Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (Concordia), Southeastern (Kentucky), Atlantic Coast Conference (Duke and Syracuse), Atlantic 10 (Massachusetts) and the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (Rochester).

FOLLOW EMU MEN'S BASKETBALL ON EAGLE ALL-ACCESS: Building off the success of Eagle All-Access through spring 2013, the Eastern Michigan University Department of Athletics has continued the growth of the broadband channel with the announcement of the school's 2013-14 broadcast schedule. The productions are a combined effort be tween the EMU Athletic Media Relations Office, WEMU (89.1 FM) and SIDEARM Sports. The following men's basketball games in 2013-14 will be part of Eagles All-Access.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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