Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
3-9,0-0MAC
Detroit Mercy
5-7,1-1Horizon
Eagles Bounce Back to Down Detroit Mercy, 79-77
12/18/2022 5:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Acuff and Bates each scored 19 while Jihad posted a career-high 17
Postgame Press Conference
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team battled to the end to secure a hard-fought home victory as the Eagles downed the visiting Titans of the University of Detroit Mercy, 79-77, Dec. 18, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center. The Eagles (3-9, 0-0 MAC) snapped a three-game losing streak with their second home victory of the season while defeating the Titans (5-7, 1-1 Horizon) for the second game in a row in the series.
Eastern, playing its oldest foe in a series that dates back to 1898, received 24 points from the bench which included a career-high 17 from Yusuf Jihad (Farmington Hills, Mich.-North Farmington-Oakland). Jihad's previous best was eight points that he scored against Detroit Mercy as a member of the Oakland University team, Dec. 26, 2020. Tyson Acuff (Detroit, Mich.-Cass Tech-Duquesne) and Emoni Bates (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ypsi Prep-Memphis) each tallied 19 points in the win for the Eagles while Noah Farrakhan (Hillside, N.J.-The Patrick School-East Carolina) added 11 points. Antoine Davis, the second-ranked scorer in the NCAA this year, scored a game-high 30 points for the Titans.
The Eagles, who scored their most points in the first half this season with 47, surpassing the 45 tallied against then-No. 22 University of Michigan, Nov. 11, made the most of their free throws as the team was 23-of-26 from the charity stripe for an 88.5 percent conversion, the eighth-best performance in facility history. All told, both teams shot over 86 percent from the line as the Titans finished 13-of-15 for an 86.7 percent conversion.
Defensively, Eastern forced 16 Detroit Mercy turnovers while committing 13 itself and turned those takeaways into 17 points on the other end of the floor. Acuff's five steals led the way for an Eastern team that tallied a season-high 12 steals. The Eagles also soared to record four blocks with Jalin Billinglsey (Cleveland, Ohio-Lutheran East-Georgetown) leading the way with a career-high-tying three rejections.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 33-26 advantage, Eastern Michigan went on a 7-0 run with 3:15 left in the first half to increase its lead to 40-26. The Eagles then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 47-37 advantage. Eastern Michigan got a great contribution from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 16 of its 47 total points.
Detroit Mercy proceeded to take a 72-69 lead before Eastern Michigan went on a 7-0 run, finished off by Farrakhan's layup, to seize a 76-72 lead with 44 seconds to go in the contest. The Titans narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still held on for the 79-77 win. Eastern Michigan capitalized on nine Detroit Mercy turnovers in the period, collecting 13 points off those turnovers.
Game Notes
» Jihad's career day saw him tally 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting with a perfect 2-of-2 from three and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. His point total surpassed the eight he scored against Detroit Mercy, Dec. 26, 2020, while playing for Oakland while his six made baskets bettered his four made in that same game.
» Jihad also was strong from three as he went 2-of-2 for the second time in three games. He now has made at least one triple in three consecutive games after having never previously having back-to-back games with at least one trey.
» Bates finished with 19 points and was 4-of-8 from three, marking his seventh game this year with at least three triples in a game. His 50.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc ties for his single-game high this year after going 3-of-6 against Michigan, Nov. 11.
» For the sixth time this year and second game in a row, Acuff tallied at least 10 points and posted at least four assists as he finished the game with 19 and six, respectively. His assist total is a career-high after he tallied five in the previous EMU home game, Nov. 27, against UC San Diego. Acuff also posted a career-high five steals, bettering the four he registered at Florida International University, Nov. 30.
» Billingsley's three swats ties a career high he set last year at DePaul University, Feb. 24, 2022, while playing for Georgetown University. Billingsley has set season highs for blocks in back-to-back games after tallying two at Niagara University, Dec. 11.
» The Eagles went 23-of-26 from the charity stripe, hitting at 88.5 percent on the day to record the eighth-highest free throw percentage in George Gervin GameAbove Center history (since 1998). To reach that number, three Eagles were perfect from the line, including Bates (5-of-5), Billingsley (4-of-4), and Jihad (3-of-3).
Historical Notes
» With the victory, the Eagles improved their all-time record against the Titans to 22-62 and have won two in a row overall.
» Eastern has won two in a row when hosting the Titans after winning, 55-51, Dec. 7, 2019, at Detroit Mercy.
» The two-point victory is the first for Eastern in the series since its 82-80 overtime win at home, Dec. 30, 1999.
» The game marked the third in a row in the series that was decided by four points or less.
Up Next
The final game of 2022 is up next for the Eagles as they will travel to Columbia, S.C., to face the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, Dec. 30. The game is slated to tip at 7 p.m. inside Colonial Life Arena and will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Tom Helmer calling the action on WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app.
