EMU Takes On Rockets for Saturday’s Senior Day Celebration

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After taking one in the chin on the road to Central Michigan University, March 5, 61-59, the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball squad looks to lock up a bye in the 2013 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Basketball Tournament with a win against the University of Toledo, March 9, on Senior Day at the Convocation Center. Tip is set for 12:04 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
     Eastern is now 14-16 on the 2012-13 campaign and 7-8 in conference play, tied for the number three spot in the West Division. Redshirt senior Derek Thompson is leading the offensive charge for the Green and White, posting 10.8 points per game, while redshirt junior Glenn Bryant is putting up 10.6. Daylen Harrison is averaging 8.9 points and 5.0 rebounds, while fellow transfer Da'Shonte Riley has led Eastern on the glass, hauling in 5.8 rebounds a game this season. Freshman Jalen Ross has dished out 74 assists, good for 2.5 per game, which tops EMU.
    The Rockets come into Saturday's matchup with a record of 14-13 overall, while settling at a 9-6 mark in MAC games this season, which ties for the top in the MAC West. Rian Pearson leads UT in points (17.9) and rebounds (6.9) per game this season, while Julius Brown is dishing out 5.8 assists per contest. Pearson leads the conference in scoring and is seventh in rebounding.

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 Convocation Center, along with Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, Greg Steiner, who will serve as the analyst for the contest. Pre-game coverage of the matchup will begin at Noon.
     Fans are not only encouraged to tune into the WEMU broadcast but there will be a video stream available on EMU's Eagle All-Access for Saturday's contest. Eagle All-Access is a subscription-based service and subscriptions start as low as $6.95 at EMUEagles.com/showcase.

ALL-TIME VERSUS TOLEDO: Saturday evening's contest will mark the 91st all-time meeting between the Rockets and Eagles. Toledo holds the all-time series edge, 47-43. 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.

THE LAST TIME WE MET: Daylen Harrison 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 scored nine to follow Harrison. Da'Shonte Riley added six points and four blocks to go along with 13 rebounds, tying his career-high.
    The Eagles 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, 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.

EMU IN ITS FINAL HOME GAME: Eastern has had a successful track record in its final home games as of late. In the last 15 seasons, EMU has gone 11-4 during its last 15 home games. In those 15 games, two of them have been against the formidable Rockets from 50 miles south of Ypsilanti where the Green and White has gone 2-0 against UT.

MAKING IT TOUGH ON THEMSELVES: The Eagles made their chances at picking up a bye much more difficult by dropping the 61-59 decision in Mount Pleasant, March 5. Eastern would have been able to pick up that bye with a loss Saturday if they would have topped the Chips, but now must defeat the Rockets, along with some help from others, to have any chance at receiving a bye to Cleveland.

NEEDING SOME SPOILERS: There are three scenearios in which Eastern can get a bye into the second round of the 2013 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, all of which require the Eagles to win their game with Toledo.
    The first scenario: EMU wins, Buffalo wins and Ball State wins. This would give EMU a bye based on the multi-team tiebreaker which gives the Eagles the best record against both the teams they're tied with (UB and BSU).
    The second scenario: EMU wins, Buffalo wins and Ball State loses. This would give EMU a bye based on the head-to-head tiebreaker with Buffalo which reverts to the 65-46 win the Eagles had over UB, Feb. 6.
    The third scenario: EMU wins, Buffalo loses and Ball State loses. This would give EMU a bye based on the fact that they would no longer be tied with any team that could own a tiebreaker over the Green and White for the fifth-seed.

CELEBRATING THE SENIORS: Before Saturday's contest with the Rockets, Eastern Michigan will celebrate the careers of three decorated seniors that will be playing in their final home game as Eagles, Derek Thompson, Jamell Harris and Matt Balkema.
     Derek Thompson: Thompson is a native of Detroit graduating from Melvindale High School and also a transfer from Southeast Missouri State. This senior has played in 85 career games in his three seasons as an Eagle, racking up 780 points, 173 rebounds and 89 assists in his career. The three-point specialist is ranked 45th in the EMU record book for the top scorers in history. The sharp-shooter has connected on 170 three-point shots which ranks seventh all-time in Eastern's history. Ending his career at EMU he will be graduating with a Communications degree.
    Jamell Harris: Having played in 124 career games for EMU, he has been known for his inside presence while donning the Green and White uniform. Throughout his career, he has accumulated 522 points and 519 rebounds. A graduate from Euclid High School in Euclid, Ohio, Harris has shined defensively, piling up the second-most blocked shots in the history of Eastern Michigan with a total of 165 blocks over his four seasons in Ypsilanti. The 72 blocks Harris posted during his sophomore season ranked as the fourth-most in a single season. Jamell led the Eagles in rebounding last season with 199 boards, good for 6.2 per contest. Harris will be graduating with a Communications degree.
    Matt Balkema: Having played in 102 career games for the Green and White, he has been the ultimate team player providing energy and help off the bench. This senior has racked up 321 points and 274 rebounds in his career. Balkema ranks 71st in rebounds in the 115 year history of Eastern Michigan basketball. The Roseville, Mich. native graduated from Cousino high school and he will be completing a degree in Communications.

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	7-8	14-16	T-3rd-West

SCORING MACHINE: First-year Eagle Glenn Bryant has proved to be quite the offensive threat for Eastern this season. Bryant is averaging 10.6 points per game, but more impressively he has had double-figure performances in 19 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.

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 54 points per game in contests against West Division opponents, the Eagles are shooting an astounding 42.8 percent from the floor, while hitting 33.9 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. Eastern is 5-4 in games against the West. Defensively, EMU allows just 51.2 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.

SIMSANITY!: Since joining the starting lineup against Ball State, Feb. 16, J.R. Sims is averaging a team-best 9.2 points per game, while shooting a blistering 19-of-47 (40.4 percent) from the floor and 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from three-point land. He is also playing 31 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.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO CLEVELAND: With the 2013 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament approaching, teams are jockeying for position, trying to get the best seed possible in Cleveland, Ohio. Currently, Eastern Michigan would be the No. 5-seed at Quicken Loans Arena. After tying for the sixth-best record in conference play this season, the Eagles would earn the fifth seed due to Toledo being ineligible for postseason play as well as losing the tiebreaker scenarios with Kent State and Buffalo. (For complete seeding details flip to page 22 of these notes)

Eastern Michigan Athletics

EMU Takes On Rockets for Saturday’s Senior Day Celebration

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos