Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
6-6 (1-0MAC)
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Western Michigan
4-10 (0-3MAC)
Eastern Michigan Opens MAC Play in Victorious Fashion at Western Michigan
1/4/2022 9:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Eagles are 1-0 in Mid-American Conference play and earned their first road victory of the season
Postgame Recap Video
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team got a 27-point showing from the bench on the way to an 85-79 win over the Western Michigan University Broncos on the road Tuesday, Jan. 4.
The Eagles (6-6,1-0 MAC) had four players score in double figures, led by freshman Noah Farrakhan (Newark, N.J.-The Patrick School (East Carolina)), who had 25 points and three steals. Junior Bryce McBride (Jackson, Tenn.-Southside (Dyersburg State)) tacked on 18 points from the bench and Senior Thomas Binelli (Bologna, Italy-Bergen Catholic (Monroe College)) helped out with 11 points.
Eastern Michigan forced 18 Western Michigan turnovers in the game. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 24 points on the offensive end of the floor. Farrakhan's three steals led the way for Eastern Michigan.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 15-12 advantage, Eastern Michigan went on an 8-0 run with 11:35 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Binelli, to increase its lead to 23-12. The Eagles then added six points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 47-30 advantage. Eastern Michigan capitalized on nine Western Michigan turnovers in the period, turning them into 16 points on the other end of the floor.
Eastern Michigan kept its lead intact before going on a 5-0 run, finished off by McBride's three, to grow the lead to 62-44 with 14:28 to go in the contest. The Broncos narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 85-79 win. Eastern Michigan got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 15 of its 38 total points.
Game Notes
» The Eastern Michigan bench came alive by adding 27 points to its scoring output.
» The Eastern Michigan defense forced 18 turnovers.
» Eastern's 85-79 win over Western Michigan is the team's first road win of the season. EMU was previously 0-6 on the road.
» Despite not being available for tonight's game due to health and safety protocols, Head Coach Stan Heath will still earn the credit for the win in tonight's contest. The bench was monitored by Assistant Coach Bob Simon.
» Tonight's contest is the first time in 7,978 days that Simon has served as the head coach in a collegiate basketball contest. He last led the Wayne State University women's team against Ferris State University in the first round of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference Tournament, March 2, 2000.
» Heath is now a combined 5-2 against Western Michigan as both a player and coach at EMU. Heath was part of teams that went 4-2 against the Broncos between 1985-87, and is now 1-0 as the bench boss.
» Heath is now 18-1 against conference foes as a head coach in the MAC. He was 17-1 in his lone season as the Kent State front man, 2002-03.
» EMU started the game hot defensively as Western failed to score its first points until the 17:18 mark in the opening half. EMU raced out to an 8-0 lead in that stretch, it's best game-opening mark of the 2021-22 season
» Farrakhan's 20 first half points are the most for him in any game this season. His previous best was 12, which came at Northern Kentucky, Nov. 18.
» EMU's 47 first-half points is the most for the team in a game this season, and the most for the program since it scored 52 points in the opening frame against Olivet, Dec. 27, 2020.
» Farrakhan's 20 first-half points are a career-best for the first-year Eagle, and the most for any Eastern player since Yeikson Montero did it Dec. 27, 2020 against Olivet.
» Binelli put up a season-best 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting. The Bologna, Italy product matched his previous season best, eight points, in the first half.
» Farrakhan's 25 points were his second-most of the season. He previously scored 27 against FIU, Dec. 11.
» EMU's 17-point halftime lead in tonight's game is the biggest for the team in any game this season. The team's previous best margin at the half was 11, against Northern Kentucky, Nov. 18.
» EMU scored a season-best 85 points in a road game in tonight's victory. The Eagles only averaged 64.3 per game on the road this season coming into the contest.
» EMU never trailed in tonight's game. It marks the first such occurrence for the team this season.
» Tonight's game saw Farrakhan (25), Binelli (11), senior Darion Spottsville (Phoenix, Ariz.-Shadow Mountain (South Mountain C.C.)) (11) and McBride (18) score 10+ points. The game is the 10th this season in which EMU has had three-or-more double-digit scorers.
» EMU scored 80+ points for the fourth time this season with its 85-79 victory over the Broncos. Prior to the game, EMU's most recent such performance came Dec. 11, in a 92-88, 4OT win over Florida International.
Historical Notes
» EMU's last two road wins as a program have come in Kalamazoo. EMU closed the 2020-21 season with a win over the Broncos, March 5, before picking up the victory in tonight's contest.
» EMU has now won back-to-back games at Western Michigan, the first such occurrence since it defeated the Broncos in consecutive attempts at University Arena between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
» Tonight was the series' third game in-a-row played on Western Michigan's home court. No team has hosted three-or-more consecutive home games in the series since the 1929-31 seasons, respectively, when EMU hosted WMU for three consecutive affairs. The longest stretch of consecutive home games in the EMU-WMU series came between 1925-28, when Eastern hosted six straight contests between the institutions.
» With its victory over Western, Eastern has now claimed victory in seven of the series' last 10 contests, the best stretch for either program in a 10-year span since the Broncos took the same number between the 2007-08 and 2012-13 seasons, respectively.
» With its win, EMU is now 19-29 all-time in Mid-American Conference openers. Additionally, the team is now 9-17 in such games that have come on the road.
»EMU's 47 first half points are the most for the team against a Division I opponent in any half of a contest since it scored 49 against Western Michigan, Jan. 26, 2019.
