Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
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Wayne State
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Eastern Michigan Downs Wayne State, 75-66, in Season Opener
11/7/2022 10:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Eight players made their debut for the Green and White in the victory
Photo Gallery | Press Conference
Highlight Video
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - Five Eagles put up double-digit points as the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team defeated the Wayne State University Warriors, 75-66, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center Monday, Nov. 7. The game was the season opener for the Eagles (1-0) while the Warriors played the contest as an exhibition before opening their regular season Friday, Nov. 11.
The Eagles had five players score in double figures, led by freshman Orlando Lovejoy (Detroit, Mich.-Summit Academy North), who recorded a team and game-high 18 points and added two steals in the Eagles' win. Sophomore Jalin Billingsley (Cleveland, Ohio-Lutheran East-Georgetown) tacked on 16 points and two steals while sophomore Noah Farrakhan (Hillside, N.J.-The Patrick School-East Carolina) added on another 12 points for Eastern.
Eastern forced 21 Wayne State turnovers while committing just nine themselves in Monday's game. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 22 points on the offensive end of the floor.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 20-17 advantage, Eastern Michigan went on a 10-0 run with 6:20 left in the first half to increase its lead to 30-17. The Eagles then added two points by the end of the half and entered halftime with a 35-20 advantage. The Green and White capitalized on 18 Warrior turnovers in the first half, turning them into 16 points on the other end of the floor.
Following intermission, Eastern Michigan kept widening its lead, jumping to 61-42 advantage before going on a 7-0 run which was finished off by a Billingsley jumper to grow the lead to 68-42 with 4:55 to go in the contest. The Warriors narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 75-66 win. The Green and White took care of business in the paint, recording 22 of its 40 points in the lane.
Game Notes
» Four of Eastern's Starting Five featured newcomers with two making their collegiate debuts. Along with returning player Noah Farrakhan, the Eagles' newcomers in the lineup included Jalin Billingsley, who made his first collegiate start after appearing in 30 games last year for Georgetown University; Tyson Acuff (Detroit, Mich.-Cass Technical-Duquesne) , who made his first start at Eastern after playing two years for Duquesne University; Orlando Lovejoy, a true freshman; and Legend Geeter (River Rouge, Mich.-River Rouge-Providence), who made his first collegiate start and saw his first collegiate action after redshirting at Providence College last year.
» Along with the four newcomers in the starting lineup, four other players made their Eastern debut in the game as well. Redshirt freshmen Javantae Randall (Detroit, Mich.-Frederick Douglass) and Prakash Ketterhagen (Kalamazoo, Mich.-New Rochelle (N.Y.)-Combine Academy) both saw action in the game with true freshmen Derik Pranger (Parker, Colo.-Colorado Prep) and JZ Zaher (Fenton, Mich.-Flint Powers Catholic) also logging minutes.
» Overall, the Eagles sent 14 players to the floor, including the eight making their debuts. The newcomers combined to log 134 minutes of playing time and accounted for 48 of the team's 75 points in the game (64.0 percent).
» Five Eagles racked up double digit points for the Eagles' offense in tonight's win: Lovejoy (18), Billingsley (16), Farrakhan (12), Golson (12) and Geeter (10). Lovejoy, the Detroit native, hit a perfect six-for-six from the free throw line, a team best, while logging a team-best 31 minutes.
» Geeter led the Eagles with eight rebounds for the Eagles in 23 minutes of play, finishing just two boards shy of his first career double-double. Of his eight boards, seven came on the defensive glass.
» Eastern Michigan as a team went eight-for-nine from the charity strike, totaling 88.9 percent as a team. Last season, when Eastern Michigan attempted at least nine free throws, they only had a better percentage once in those games, coming at Ohio on Feb. 3, 2022.
» Sophomore Luka Savicevic (Skopje, North Macedonia-Sports Academy Skopje) led the Eagles in helpers tonight with four, leaving him one shy of tying his career record of he set at Miami University in last year's season finale, March 4, 2022. Six Eastern players recorded an assist in the win for a team total of 11.
» EMU dominated the turnover battle in tonight's win, coughing up the ball just nine times compared to the Warrior's 22. The Eagles capitalized on the statistic, recording 22 points on turnovers. The 22 turnovers forced are the third-most in the Stan Heath era after turning over Florida International University 25 times Dec. 11, 2021, and Illinois State University 22 times, Nov. 12, 2021.
» Eastern Michigan recorded eight steals in just the first half, converting to make almost half of its first half points (16) on turnovers. The Green and White added two more steals in the second half for 10 overall. Pranger led the Eagles with three steals in the first 20 minutes of his collegiate career. The Eagles recorded double digit steals in just four games last season with a high of 14 against Florida International University on Dec. 11, 2021.
Historical Notes
» Tonight's attendance of 4,677 is the fourth-highest total in George Gervin GameAbove Center history (dating back to the 1998-99 season) and the largest since Nov. 10, 2017, when 4,767 fans saw the Eagles defeat Spring Arbor University, 92-60. Last year, the largest crowd on hand for an Eastern game came Dec. 11, 2021, when 3,991 fans saw the Eagles defeat Florida International University, 92-88 in four overtimes on George Gervin Day.
» In 49 seasons of play as an NCAA Division I program (since the start of the 1974-75 season), the Eagles now hold a 30-19 record in their first game of the year and are 26-5 when the season opener comes on their home court. Additionally, the Eagles improved to 40-9 in their home opener as well.
» Tonight's win breaks an all-time series tie between the Eagles and Warriors. In 63 games against Wayne State, Eastern Michigan now leads 32-31, with Eastern having won 15 in a row overall and 12 in a row in Ypsilanti against its former Presidents' Athletic Conference foe.
Up Next
The Eagles will travel into the Motor City Friday, Nov. 11, for a showdown with No. 22/22 University of Michigan in a game that will be played at Little Caesars Arena, the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons and the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. The two Washtenaw County foes will play before a national television audience on ESPNU with the opening tip scheduled for 9 p.m.
