Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
2-7,0-0MAC
Florida Atlantic
-71,00 CUSA
Eastern MBB Falls to Florida Atlantic
12/4/2022 4:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bates scores 29 while Acuff adds 15 on the day
Press Conference
YPSILANTI, Mich (EMUEagles.com) - Sophomores Emoni Bates (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ypsi Prep-Memphis) and Tyson Acuff (Detroit, Mich.-Cass Technical-Duquesne) combined to score 44 total points as the Eagles fell to the Florida Atlantic University Owls, 101-73, at home inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center, Dec. 4.
The Eagles (2-7) had three players score in double figures, led by Bates, who had 29 points and six rebounds. Acuff added 15 points while sophomore Kevin-David Rice (Flint, Mich.-Grand Blanc-Delta College) helped out with a season-high 11 points.
How It Happened
Eastern Michigan struggled out of the gate, falling behind, 41-31, heading into halftime. The Eagles trailed by as much as 14 in the opening stanza, but a 7-0 run that include five-consecutive points from Bates, helped trim the margin to 10 at the break. In the second half, the visitors shot at a 66.7 percent clip from the field while the Eagles were able to hit just 39.4 percent from the floor. All told, the Owls shot 50 percent from behind the arc, connecting on 12-of-24 attempts while the Eagles were limited to just 3-of-20 shooting from three.
Game Notes
» Bates led Eastern Michigan on the offensive side of the ball, scoring 29 points and adding six rebounds. These totals for Bates marked his third game with at least 20 points and six rebounds in the same contest. Bates has also scored 15 or more points in all of his eight games as an Eagle.
» Eastern Michigan had some good contributions as well from Acuff, scoring 15 points for the Green and White. It is the fifth time the guard has scored double-digit this season.
» Rice earned his first start of the season after seeing his first minutes at Florida International University, Nov. 30. It is his third career start - and his first career home start - after starting games at Northern Illinois University, Jan. 15, 2022, and at Miami University, March 4, 2022, last year.
» Rice recorded a career-high in rebounds with five, shattering his previous best of three, which he last set at Miami, March 4, 2022. Additionally, the sophomore guard set a new season-high with 11 points, besting the seven he scored at FIU, Nov. 30. This is Rice's fourth career double-digit scoring effort, and first of the 2022-23 season.
Historical Notes
» The game with Florida Atlantic saw 4,192 fans in attendance, the seventh-largest crowd to see the Eagles play inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center. It is the second-largest home crowd of the season after 4,677 fans were on hand for the Eagles' 75-66, season-opening victory over Wayne State University, Nov. 7.
» With the loss, the Eagles fall to 0-1 in the all-time series with the Owls.
» The loss against FAU snapped Eastern's three-game winning streak against members of Conference USA (excludes games played against Marshall University when it was a member of the Mid-American Conference). Eastern is now 3-15 all-time against CUSA and 1-1 this year after winning at Florida International University, Nov. 30.
Up Next
Eastern will travel to Normal, Ill., Wednesday, Dec. 7, where the Eagles will face the Redbirds of Illinois State University at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET tip. The game will be the first of back-to-back road contests for Eastern as they will also play at Niagara University Sunday, Dec. 11, at 1 p.m. ET.
