Eagles Downed by Rockets, 60-52

TOLEDO, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – Daylen Harrison (Akron, Ohio – St. Vincent St. Mary) recorded a double-double, registering a career-high 19 points along with ten rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team fell on the road to the University of Toledo, 60-52, at John F. Savage Arena, Feb. 9.

Glenn Bryant (Detroit, Mich. – Oak Hill Academy) scored 9 to follow Harrison. Da'Shonte Riley (Detroit, Mich. – Detroit Country Day) added six points and four blocks to go along with 13 rebounds, tying his career-high.

The Eagles (11-12, 4-5 MAC) could only muster 33.9 percent from the floor, making 20-of-59 attempts including 4-of-17 from beyond the arc. EMU outrebounded Toledo 43-36 while also converting 19 second chance points. However, 19 EMU turnovers turned into 19 points for the Rockets.

Rian Pearson tallied a double-double to lead Toledo (11-10, 7-3 MAC), scoring 29 points and grabbed 14 boards, going 13-of-19 from the foul line, making his final 10 free throw attempts. As a team, the Rockets went to the line 31 times, sinking 20 of their attempts while EMU made 8-of-11 from the stripe. UT shot 18-of-52 from the field for a 34.6 shooting percentage while registering the same mark of 4-of-17 from three point land.

The Rockets started off the game with a pair of threes from Dominique Buckley to take an early 6-0 lead. A Riley offensive put-back got Eastern on the board, but the Eagles started out 1-of-8 from the floor and found themselves trailing 8-3 at the first media timeout. However, the Eagles would hit three of their next five shots as a Derek Thompson (Detroit, Mich. – Melvindale) 3-pointer tied the game at 11 with 10:58 to go in the first half.

The Green and White would take its first lead of the game after Bryant took a steal to the rim for a one-handed slam. Nonetheless, the Eagles' 7-0 run ended following a pair of free throws from Toledo's Matt Smith. Making 3-of-4 from the charity stripe, Eastern would take a 16-13 lead.

A nearly five-minute scoring drought would haunt the Eastern as the Rockets scored the next six points to take a three-point lead of their own. Harrison finally stopped it with a jumper, and Jamell Harris (Euclid, Ohio – Euclid) added a basket to regain the lead for the Eagles, 20-19, at the 4:09 mark of the first half. Toledo would later regain the lead, taking a 24-22 lead into the break.

Both teams struggled shooting-wise in the first half, making only eight buckets. While Eastern shot 27.6 percent from the floor (8-of-29), UT made one-third of its shots, going 8-of-24 from the field. The Eagles controlled the boards, 23-16, but the Rockets were able to convert eight points off of eight turnovers.

Thompson led the way with six points for the Eagles in the first half while Harrison put together a very statistical first half. The junior from Akron, Ohio recorded five points, six rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist. Riley also added four points and seven first half boards for the Green and White.

For the hometown Rockets, Pearson recorded nine points and seven caroms off the bench in the first half. Toledo struggled from the charity stripe making only 6-of-12 attempts.

Bryant would knot the game up at 24 with the first bucket of the second half, but Toledo would answer to grab the lead as Pearson scored six of his team's first eight points of the second half, giving the Rockets a 32-26 lead. Harrison would answer with old-fashioned three-point play to make it 32-29 with 15:58 left in the contest.

Eastern would get into foul trouble with nine team fouls at the 8:58 mark of the second half, and Toledo would make free throws to increase its lead to six. A Bryant jumper would cut the lead to four, 41-37, with 8:11 to go. After nearly three minutes of no scoring, Toledo would tally four straight points, doubling its lead to eight. However, the Eagles would not go away as back-to-back threes by Harrison and Jalen Ross (Greensboro, N.C. – Greensboro Day) made it 45-43 with 3:59 left.

Ross would add another jumper in between a pair of Buckley threes, and EMU would find itself trailing, 51-45, with just 1:45 remaining in the game. Toledo would not let the Eagles get within five for the rest of the game as Pearson made six free throws to put it away, 60-52

The Green and White return to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center for a MAC cross-divisional tip against the University of Akron, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Daylen Harrison

Glenn Bryant

Derek Thompson

Da'Shonte Riley

Eastern Michigan Athletics