Eagles Set to Diffuse Rockets in Toledo

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After cruising to a 65-46 home victory against the University at Buffalo, Feb. 6, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will hit the road for a Mid-American Conference West Division matchup with the University of Toledo Saturday, Feb. 9. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. at John F. Savage Arena.
     Eastern is now 11-11 on the 2012-13 campaign and 4-4 in conference play, holding down the number three spot in the West Division. Senior guard Derek Thompson is leading the way offensively, posting 11.0 points per game. Leading the Eagles in rebounding is junior center Da'Shonte Riley who is pulling down six rebounds per game. Other notables this season have been transfers Glenn Bryant and Daylen Harrison. Bryant is posting 10.2 points per contest, while Harrison has been averaging 9.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in his first season competing for EMU. Freshman Jalen Ross is dishing out a team-high three assists per game.
    The Rockets come into the contest in second place in the MAC West Division with a 6-3 conference mark. Toledo is 10-10 overall and has seen significant production from forward Rian Pearson who is leading the Rockets in both points (18.1) and rebounds (6.3). Julius Brown is posting 13.9 points per game and leads UT in assists with 5.5 per game.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: The Eagles' contest with the Rockets will be broadcast on WEMU (89.1 FM). Veteran play-by-play voice Chad Bush will be on the call from the Savage Arena. Along with Chad will be EMU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, Greg Steiner, who will serve as the analyst for the game.

ALL-TIME VERSUS TOLEDO: Saturday evening's contest will mark the 90th all-time meeting between the Rockets and Eagles. Toledo holds the all-time series edge, 46-43. EMU and UT first met during the 1917-18 campaign when Eastern Michigan E-Club Hall of Fame Member Elton J. Rynearson was serving his first season of his first stint as the team's head coach. The Eagles were victorious in a road contest against Toledo, 49-20, Feb. 13, 1918.
    Last season, the Eagles saw Toledo on two seperate occasions. First the Eagles were able to steal a 41-38 win on the road at Savage Arena, Jan. 21, 2012. Darrell Lampley was the high scorer for EMU with nine points in the win away from home.
     Toledo was able to return-fire in its trip to Eastern, March, 3, 2012, by taking a 76-51 decision within the Convocation Center. Lampley led the Eagles with 13 points, while Antonio Green added nine and Derek Thompson chipped in eight.

BRYANT TURNS IN A CAREER DAY: Redshirt junior forward Glenn Bryant has turned in a successful first season donning the Green and White. The transfer from the University of Arkansas has averaged 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds through his first 22 games as an Eagle. More impressively, on the defensive side of the ball he has posted multiple shot block performances on eight different occasions.
    Eastern's 65-46 win over Buffalo proved to be Bryant's best game in Ypsilanti yet. The Detroit, Mich. native put-up a career-high 17 points against the Bulls, while also pulling down four rebounds and rejecting four shots at the Convocation Center.

BREAKING MURPHY'S LAW: Due to the nature of Head Coach Rob Murphy's offensive style, the Eagles generally play very close, low-scoring games within Mid-American Conference play. Prior to EMU's win over Buffalo, the Eagles had won just three games in conference play by 10-or-more points since Murphy took over for the 2011-12 campaign. Murphy's fourth 10-or-more point win came against the Bulls, Feb. 6, when his team posted a 19-point win. That 19 point differential is the largest margin in which a Muphy-coached Eastern sqaud has defeated a MAC team.

SOMETHING TO PLAY FOR: Despite being unable to compete in postseason play this year Toledo still has plenty to play for during the 2012-13 campaign. Currently the Rockets sit in second place in the MAC West Divsion with a conference record of 6-3, just one game behind the leading Broncos of Western Michigan who are 7-2. UT is still able to win its division if it finishes the conference season with the best record.

IF IT ENDED TODAY: If the 2012-13 season ended today, Feb. 7, the Eagles would hold the No. 4 seed in the 2013 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Basketball Tournament. Akron (8-0) sits atop the conference at No. 1, Ohio (7-1) is No. 2, Western Michigan (7-2) is No. 3 and Toledo (6-3) has the next-best record, but is ineligible for postseason play, which would slide Eastern (4-4) into the four slot.

EMU'S CAREER DIVISIONAL RECORD: The Mid-American Conference has had West-East Divisional competition since 1997-98. A complete list of divisional play is listed below.

EMU IN MAC DIVISIONAL PLAY

Year	MAC Record	Overall Record	Divisional Place
1997-98	13-5	20-10	3rd-West
1998-99	5-13	5-20	5th-West
1999-00	9-9	15-13	3rd-West
2000-01	1-17	3-25	6th-West
2001-02	2-16	6-24	6th-West
2002-03	8-10	14-14	T-4th-West
2003-04	7-11	13-15	5th-West
2004-05	5-13	12-18	6th-West
2005-06	3-15	7-21	5th-West
2006-07	6-10	13-19	4th-West
2007-08	8-8	14-17	T-2nd-West
2008-09	6-10	8-24	4th-West
2009-10	8-8	17-15	T-2nd-West
2010-11	5-11	9-22	T-4th-West
2011-12	9-7	14-18	1st-West
2012-13	4-4	11-11	3rd-West

NEXT ON THE DOCKET, AKRON: After heading to Toledo, the Eagles return home to take on the conference leading Akron Zips. Game time between Eastern and the Zips is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center, Feb. 13.
Last season, the Eagles dropped a road contest to Akron, 77-47, at James A. Rhodes Arena, Feb. 4, 2012. Matt Balkema led the Eagles with a career-high 15 points while Antonio Green added 13. The Eagles shot 32.1 percent for the game, making 17-of-53 field-goal attempts. Akron shot 44.8 for the game, making 26-of-58 attempts and the Zips posted a whopping 46-29 edge on the boards.

RILEY MAKING HISTORY: After 22 games this season Da'Shonte Riley has posted 50 blocked shots, which is the sixth most in a single season at Eastern Michigan. He is averaging 2.27 blocks per game and is on pace to stuff 71 shots this season which would be the fifth-most blocks in a single season at EMU. Theron Wilson (1992-93) holds the record for the most blocks in a single season with 96.

BLOCKING HIS WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOKS: Eastern Michigan senior forward, Jamell Harris, posted 40 blocks last season which ranks as the 10th-most in EMU laurels and his 72 blocks in 2009-10 ranks as fourth in the record book. The Euclid, Ohio native trails former EMU defensive great Theron Wilson (1992-96) by 96 blocks. Harris sits second in the record books with 159 career blocks.
Harris not only has been a force blocking shots, but he has made a name for himself on the glass as well. With 495 career rebounds, he is 24th all-time. Kennedy McIntosh (1967-71) has the most with 1,426.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos