Eagles Head to Cleveland for 2013 FirstEnergy MAC Tournament

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After narrowly defeating Northern Illinois University Monday, March 11, 45-44, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will make the 168-mile trek from Ypsilanti to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Eastern will face off with Miami University Wednesday, March 13, in its second round matchup of the 2013 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, at 9 p.m. while Western Michigan University awaits in the quarterfinals and Ohio University would be EMU's semifinal matchup.
The Eagles are now 15-17 after their first postseason game of the 2012-13 campaign. After going 7-9 in conference play they earned the No. 7 seed in the FirstEnergy MAC Tournament. Redshirt senior Derek Thompson is leading the offensive charge for the Green and White, posting 11.1 points per game, while redshirt junior Glenn Bryant is putting up 10.7. Daylen Harrison is averaging 8.7 points and 4.9 rebounds, while fellow transfer Da'Shonte Riley is leading Eastern on the glass, hauling in 5.9 rebounds a game this season. Freshman Jalen Ross has dished out 75 assists, good for 2.3 per game, which tops EMU.

FINDING THE GAME AT HOME: All Eastern Michigan contests in the 2013 MAC Tournament will be broadcast on WEMU (89.1 FM). Veteran play-by-play voice Chad Bush will be on the call from Quicken Loans Arena, along with Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, Greg Steiner, who will serve as the analyst. Pre-game coverage, second round through the semifinals, will begin at 8:50 p.m., while championship game coverage will start at 6:20 p.m.
Along with the broadcast on WEMU, each of the MAC Tournament games in Cleveland will air over the small screen. Each game except the March 16 championship matchup will appear on SportsTime Ohio. Saturday's championship round will be aired on ESPN2. In addition to every game being shown on television, they will also be live-streamed on ESPN3 for those fans who are out of the STO region.

ALL-TIME IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: Wednesday will be the first time that Eastern Michigan will play in Quicken Loans Arena since the 2010 tournament when the Eagles dropped a double-overtime contest with Akron University, 97-89, March 11, 2010. Eastern is looking to win their first game in Cleveland since it topped Ball State University at the Q in the 2007 tournament, 51-48, March 7, 2007. Overall, EMU is 23-27 all-time in the MAC Tournament with its first win coming under then-Head Coach Jim Boyce, March 9, 1984, against Bowling Green State University, 64-58, in Rockford Illinois.

THE ROAD AHEAD: Eastern Michigan will open action in Cleveland Wednesday, March 13, with the No. 11 seed, Miami, at 9 p.m.. If the Eagles defeat the RedHawks, they will then take on third-seeded Western Michigan Thursday, March 14, at 9 p.m. With a win against the Broncos, EMU will then take on No. 2 seeded Ohio in a semifinal matchup Friday, March 15, at 9 p.m. Following a win against the Bobcats, the Green and White would then see the winner of the other semifinal, which would pit No. 1 Akron agaisnt No. 4 Kent State/No. 5 Ball State/No. 8 Buffalo, in the 2013 FirstEnergy MAC Tournament Championship game on ESPN2 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16.

AGAINST MIAMI IN THE TOURNEY: The Eagles and RedHawks have taken to the hardwood on seven different occasions in the MAC Tournament. The first meeting came in 1986-87 during Ben Braun's first full season as the EMU head man. Braun led the Green and White to an 87-65 win over Miami, March 5, 1987. Overall, Eastern is 3-4 against Miami in MAC Tournament games. The last time the Eagles saw Miami in the postseason, Miami handed the Eagles a 64-51 loss at the EMU Convocation Center, March 1, 2000.

AGAINST WESTERN IN THE TOURNEY: Eastern and Western have seen each other five times in MAC Tournament games. Western holds a 4-1 edge over EMU, with the first meeting coming, March 2, 1982. WMU knocked off EMU 44-42 at Bowen Field House. The last time these two teams met in the tournament was in a 60-55 win for Western, March 6, 2006, at University Arena in Kalamazoo.

AGAINST OHIO IN THE TOURNEY: The Eagles and Bobcats have tied up just three times in postseason play, with Eastern holding a 2-1 edge in the all-time series. The first matchup was back on March 8, 1983, when EMU traveled to Athens and fell, 74-60. The last meeting with Ohio was March 10, 1995, in Toledo, Ohio when Eastern topped the Bobcats, 78-72, in the semifinals of the 1995 MAC Tournament.

TIME TO SHINE IN CLEVELAND: EMU has played just six games in Cleveland and boasts a 2-4 record all-time. The game with Miami, March 13, is Eastern's first game at the Q since 2010.

SWEET SWEET REVENGE: Although it was a tightly contested game, the Eagles were able to knockoff Northern Illinois, 45-44, Monday, March 11, in their first MAC Tournament game of the season. This win was extra sweet for EMU as the Huskies bounced the Green and White from the 2012 tournament March 5, 2012, 55-52, at EMU's Convocation Center. The Huskies were the No. 12 seed in last season's tournament.

RILEY READY FOR POSTSEASON PLAY: Junior center Da'Shonte Riley showed off in the first postseason game of the 2012-13 campaign with his first career double-double performance against the Huskies Monday night. Riley went off for a career-high 13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor. Not only did Riley get it done on the offensive end, but he pulled down 11 rebounds and had four blocked shots in EMU's first postseason win since the 2009-10 season. The Detroit, Mich. native and Syracuse University transfer played in the 2010 postseason with the Orange and saw significant time as a freshman playing a key role defensively in three NCAA Tournament games.

THREE TIMES IN ONE YEAR: Eastern completed a feat for the first time in over six years with its victory against NIU Monday night. The Eagles defeated a team three times in one season with their win over the Huskies. The last time EMU topped a conference opponent three times in one season was in 2006-07 campaign when the Eagles knocked off Ball State three times first at BSU, Jan. 13, then at the Convocation Center, Feb. 25, and finally in the MAC Tournament, March 7.

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	7-9	15-17	4th-West

SCORING MACHINE: First-year Eagle Glenn Bryant has proved to be quite the offensive threat for Eastern this season. Bryant is averaging 10.7 points per game, but more impressively he has had double-figure performances in 21 games in his first year donning the Green and White. Before transferring from Arkansas, Bryant averaged just 3.3 points per game, while playing just over 11 minutes per contest for the Razorbacks.

SIMSANITY!: Since joining the starting lineup against Ball State, Feb. 16, J.R. Sims is averaging 9.4 points per game, while shooting a blistering 25-of-61 (41.0 percent) from the floor and 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) from three-point land. He is also playing 30.8 minutes per game.
Prior to joining the starting lineup he saw just 18.7 minutes a game, while posting 4.5 points with a 36.5 shooting percentage.

SEASON-HIGH ON SENIOR DAY: After being honored as one of the Eagles' three seniors, Detroit native Derek Thompson turned in his best performance of the season. The EMU guard tallied a season-best 25 points to lead the Green and White in its 78-67 setback against Toledo, March 9. Thompson also tied his season-high in threes, nailing 5-of-10 triples in the final regular season game of the year.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO CLEVELAND: With the 2013 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament starting, the final bracket is set for the tournament in Cleveland, Ohio. After going 7-9 in conference play, Eastern Michigan settled in with No. 7-seed, tying for the seventh-best record in conference play this season, the Eagles earn the seventh-seed due to Toledo being ineligible for postseason play as well as losing the tiebreaker scenarios with Bowling Green and Buffalo. (For complete seeding details flip to page 2 of these notes)

A TAIL OF TWO TEAMS: EMU has shown impressive offensive and defensive efficiency against teams from the MAC West Division during the 2012-13 campaign. Although they are scoring just 55.4 points per game in contests against West Division opponents, the Eagles are shooting an astounding 42.7 percent from the floor, while hitting 35.1 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. Eastern is 5-5 in games against the West. Defensively, EMU allows just 53.9 points per game against teams from its division.
Conversely, in games against the East Division, the Green and White is scoring 58 points per game, while allowing 61.7 per game. The Eagles shoot under 40 percent in games against the East Division, while holding a 2-4 record in those six games. In games against East Division opponents, the opposition is shooting a solid 44.3 percent from the floor, while Da'Shonte Riley averages just one block a game. In games against the West, Riley blocks nearly two shots per game. Also, Eastern has not won a road game against a team from the East Division.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Eagles Head to Cleveland for 2013 FirstEnergy MAC Tournament

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