Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, March 14
Cleveland, Ohio
9 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
21-14
44
vs
59
Toledo
27-5
1
2
F
Eastern Michigan
28
16
44
Toledo
32
27
59
Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
MAC Tournament Run Ends for EMU Hoops With 59-44 Setback to Toledo
3/14/2014 11:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Glenn Bryant recorded a team-best 11 points to go along with a career-high six blocks
Postgame Audio.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team saw its Mid-American Conference Tournament run come to a close in a 59-44 setback to the No. 2 seeded University of Toledo Rockets in a semifinal contest, March 14, at Quicken Loans Arena. Despite swatting eight shots on the defensive side of the court, the Eagles could not overcome a 32.1 shooting percentage in the loss.
While Toledo (27-5) moves on to the conference championship game to face No. 1 seed Western Michigan University, EMU's regular season ends with a mark of 21-14, the best ledger since the 1996-97 campaign.
Glenn Bryant (Detroit, Mich.-Oak Hill Academy (Arkansas)) was the only Eagle in double figures, scoring 11 points while also blocking a career-high six shots. His six swats were one shy of tying the record for blocks in a MAC tournament matchup. Three different players have reached seven blocks; most recently Zeke Marshall notched seven rejections in the Akron versus Kent State matchup on March 15, 2013.
Darell Combs (Chicago, Ill.-Thornwood (Blinn College)) added nine off the bench as well. Starting points guard Mike Talley (Detroit, Mich.-Melvindale ABT (Duquesne)) recorded eight points and five assists, while Da'Shonte Riley (Detroit, Mich.-Country Day (Syracuse)) pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. As a team, the Green and White shot 17-of-53 and just 5-of-21 from long range.
Toledo was led by three players who reached double digits. Rian Pearson notched 18 points and nine rebounds to fall short of a double-double, while Nathan Boothe scored 13 points. Justin Drummond recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-best 10 rebounds. The Rockets shot at a 41.2 percent clip (21-of-51), but the EMU defense limited them to just 4-of-14 from the perimeter. UT controlled the glass, 43-29, as well as the paint, 24-16.
Raven Lee (Detroit, Mich.-Romulus) began the scoring with a triple two minutes into the contest. Nearly one minute later, Toledo answered with a three to tie the game, but it didn't last long as Karrington Ward (Lockport, Ill.-Lockport Township (Moraine Valley C.C.)) buried a corner trey to give the lead to the Green and White. Following a pair of UT free throws, Talley knifed through the Toledo defense for an easy deuce, keeping EMU up, 8-5.
Combs increased the advantage to four, 15-11, but Toledo rattled off seven straight points to take an 18-15 lead that forced EMU Head Coach Rob Murphy to call timeout. Following another UT bucket, Ward ended the 9-0 run with a jumper from the wing. The Rockets built the lead to as much as eight, but the EMU deficit stood at four, 32-28, at the half after Combs beat the buzzer with a three. The Eagles forced a UT turnover with five seconds left before Combs inbounded the ball to Talley and got the ball back from his teammate to swish the long-range shot.
The Eagles had balanced scoring in the first half with three players scoring six points while two others added five to make up all 28 points. EMU shot 45.5 percent from the field (10-of-22), including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Along with tying for a team-best six points in the opening 20 minutes, Talley added four assists.
Pearson led the Rockets in scoring by a substantial margin with 15 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting. No other Rocket recorded more than five points in the opening stanza. UT sank 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) shots and dominated the paint, tallying half of its points down low and outscoring Eastern, 16-4.
Trailing by nine early in the second half, Eastern tallied seven straight points: four from Bryant and a three by Combs, to get within two, 38-36. Due to some big rejections by Bryant and Riley, EMU held Toledo without a field goal for nearly seven minutes. However, the Eagles went four minutes without scoring and found themselves behind, 41-38, with 8:27 left in the contest.
UT used a 15-4 run to increase its lead to double digits, 56-42, with three minutes to go and put the game out of reach. EMU mustered just six points in the final eight minutes as Toledo advanced to the MAC Championship game by a final 59-44 tally.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team saw its Mid-American Conference Tournament run come to a close in a 59-44 setback to the No. 2 seeded University of Toledo Rockets in a semifinal contest, March 14, at Quicken Loans Arena. Despite swatting eight shots on the defensive side of the court, the Eagles could not overcome a 32.1 shooting percentage in the loss.
While Toledo (27-5) moves on to the conference championship game to face No. 1 seed Western Michigan University, EMU's regular season ends with a mark of 21-14, the best ledger since the 1996-97 campaign.
Glenn Bryant (Detroit, Mich.-Oak Hill Academy (Arkansas)) was the only Eagle in double figures, scoring 11 points while also blocking a career-high six shots. His six swats were one shy of tying the record for blocks in a MAC tournament matchup. Three different players have reached seven blocks; most recently Zeke Marshall notched seven rejections in the Akron versus Kent State matchup on March 15, 2013.
Darell Combs (Chicago, Ill.-Thornwood (Blinn College)) added nine off the bench as well. Starting points guard Mike Talley (Detroit, Mich.-Melvindale ABT (Duquesne)) recorded eight points and five assists, while Da'Shonte Riley (Detroit, Mich.-Country Day (Syracuse)) pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. As a team, the Green and White shot 17-of-53 and just 5-of-21 from long range.
Toledo was led by three players who reached double digits. Rian Pearson notched 18 points and nine rebounds to fall short of a double-double, while Nathan Boothe scored 13 points. Justin Drummond recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-best 10 rebounds. The Rockets shot at a 41.2 percent clip (21-of-51), but the EMU defense limited them to just 4-of-14 from the perimeter. UT controlled the glass, 43-29, as well as the paint, 24-16.
Raven Lee (Detroit, Mich.-Romulus) began the scoring with a triple two minutes into the contest. Nearly one minute later, Toledo answered with a three to tie the game, but it didn't last long as Karrington Ward (Lockport, Ill.-Lockport Township (Moraine Valley C.C.)) buried a corner trey to give the lead to the Green and White. Following a pair of UT free throws, Talley knifed through the Toledo defense for an easy deuce, keeping EMU up, 8-5.
Combs increased the advantage to four, 15-11, but Toledo rattled off seven straight points to take an 18-15 lead that forced EMU Head Coach Rob Murphy to call timeout. Following another UT bucket, Ward ended the 9-0 run with a jumper from the wing. The Rockets built the lead to as much as eight, but the EMU deficit stood at four, 32-28, at the half after Combs beat the buzzer with a three. The Eagles forced a UT turnover with five seconds left before Combs inbounded the ball to Talley and got the ball back from his teammate to swish the long-range shot.
The Eagles had balanced scoring in the first half with three players scoring six points while two others added five to make up all 28 points. EMU shot 45.5 percent from the field (10-of-22), including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Along with tying for a team-best six points in the opening 20 minutes, Talley added four assists.
Pearson led the Rockets in scoring by a substantial margin with 15 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting. No other Rocket recorded more than five points in the opening stanza. UT sank 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) shots and dominated the paint, tallying half of its points down low and outscoring Eastern, 16-4.
Trailing by nine early in the second half, Eastern tallied seven straight points: four from Bryant and a three by Combs, to get within two, 38-36. Due to some big rejections by Bryant and Riley, EMU held Toledo without a field goal for nearly seven minutes. However, the Eagles went four minutes without scoring and found themselves behind, 41-38, with 8:27 left in the contest.
UT used a 15-4 run to increase its lead to double digits, 56-42, with three minutes to go and put the game out of reach. EMU mustered just six points in the final eight minutes as Toledo advanced to the MAC Championship game by a final 59-44 tally.
Team Stats
EMU
TOLEDO
FG%
.321
.412
3FG%
.238
.286
FT%
.625
.619
RB
31
43
TO
9
6
STL
1
4
Game Leaders
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
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