Second-Half Rally Comes Up Short at Ohio, 74-68

ATHENS, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team's late rally was not enough to overcome its 22 turnovers in a 74-68 loss at Ohio University Tuesday, Jan. 7, in Mid-American Conference action at OU's Convocation Center.

The Eagles (10-5, 0-2 MAC) trailed 62-50 with 6:36 to play in the second half, but responded with a 15-6 run over the next five minutes to get back with three-points. Redshirt senior Boubacar Toure (Dakar, Senegal-Phase One Academy (Grand Canyon)) and junior Yeikson Montero (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic-Redemption Christian Academy (Pensacola State) hit back-to-back field goals to get Eastern Michigan within three, 68-65 with 1:16 left, but Ohio's Lunden McDay answered with a three with 44 seconds remaining. Freshman Shamar Dillard (South Bend, Ill-Riley (SPIRE Institute)) hit a triple to cut the deficit to three again with 36 ticks left, but the Cats closed the game out from the line.

Montero notched his ninth double-figure scoring performance of the season, as he finished with a career-high 18 points, including four from beyond the arc. He also pulled down five rebounds, and tallied five steals and three assists while leading EMU with 34 minutes on the floor. Redshirt junior Ty Groce (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Lincoln) also reached double-digits for the 11th-time this year with 12 points to go along with six boards, four assists and four steals. Defensively, Toure led all players with 10 rebounds, nine of which were defensive, and swapped away two shots.

Redshirt senior Jordan Dartis led Ohio (9-6, 1-1 MAC) with 26 points, including eight from beyond the three-point arc. Four other Bobcats also reached double-digits in McDay (13), Jason Preston (13), Nolan Foster (10), and Ben Vander Plas (10), respectively.

EMU posted a solid offensive performance as the Eagles shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the field compared to Ohio's 46.4 percent (26-for-56) efficiency. Eastern struggled beyond on the three-point line in the second half, ending the evening with a 38.1 clip (8-for-21), while the Bobcats shot 48 percent (13-for-27) from deep.

The Eagles recorded more steals with the 17-11 advantage and forced 21 OU turnovers. EMU outscored Ohio in the following categories: turnovers (23-21), in the paint (28-22), fast breaks (16-4) and the bench (22-12). The Bobcats outrebounded EMU by two (35-33) and forced 22 Eastern turnovers, the most this season.

Eastern Michigan started the first half strong, garnering a seven-point lead (25-18) off a Montero triple with 8:51 before the half. The Bobcats tied up the game at the 7:14 mark with a McDay three-pointer and never looked back. OU finished the first half with an eight-point lead (37-29).

The Eagles opened the second stanza on an 8-0 run tie up the contest at 37-37. From there, Ohio's Preston propelled the Bobcats' lead to 14 points half way through the second half. Dillard drained a triple to cut OU's lead to three (71-68) with less than four minutes in the game. But, Ohio capitalized on two Eagle fouls to seal the six-point victory.

EMU will conclude its two-game road swing Saturday, Jan. 11, as the Eagles challenge MAC West Division foe Northern Illinois at 3:30 p.m. CT (4:30 p.m. ET).

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Team Stats

Yeikson Montero

Ty Groce

Shamar Dillard

Chris Barnes

Players Mentioned

Shamar Dillard

Ty Groce

Yeikson Montero

Boubacar Toure

Players Mentioned

Shamar Dillard

Ty Groce

Yeikson Montero

Boubacar Toure

Eastern Michigan Athletics