Men's Basketball Hosting Siena Heights Friday

Men's Basketball vs. Siena Heights
Date	Friday, Nov. 8 \| 12:02 p.m.
Venue	George Gervin GameAbove Center (8,754) \| Ypsilanti, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF)
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	WEMU (89.1 WEMU-FM) \| The Varsity Network App \| Eastern Insider Podcast
Twitter	@EMU_MBB \| @EMUAthletics
Fan Information	Purchase Tickets \| Digitial Yearbook

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team will host Siena Heights Friday, Nov. 8, with a 12 p.m. tip in the Eagles' home opener at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

ON AIR
Eastern Michigan and Siena Heights will air on ESPN+ as Tom Helmer and Reggie Butler have the call.

OPENING TIPS
»Eastern dropped a 64-44 decision at Texas State, Nov. 4, to open the season. Junior Christian Henry scored 17 points to highlight the Eagles' offensive efforts.
»Eastern topped Central State, 85-63, in exhibition play, Oct. 30. Junior Christian Henry scored 21 points, highlighted by 18 in the first half while senior Da'Sean Nelson netted 18 points. EMU forced 25 CSU turnovers while outscoring the Marauders 38-7 in points off turnovers.
»The Eagles were picked 10th in the MAC preseason poll. Ohio received 11 first-place votes.
»EMU added 11 newcomers to its 2024-25 roster including seniors Jalen Terry (DePaul), Da'Sean Nelson (DePaul), John Shanu II (UTRGV), and Cooper Smith (Michigan), juniors Christian Henry (Panola College), Julian Lewis (Miami), and Trey Pettigrew (Salt Lake CC), and freshmen Mario Brunetto (Classical Gymnasium), Mbaye N'Diaye (SEED Academy), Godslove Nwabude (Zion Prep), and Dillon Tingler (Huntington Prep).
»Eastern returns 29 of its 80 (36.3%) double-digit scoring games from the 2023-24 season as Arne Osojnik (10), Jalin Billingsley (10), and Yusuf Jihad (9) highlight the Eastern returnees.
»Sophomore Arne Osojnik was first in the MAC in scoring by a true freshman in 2023-24, averaging 8.8 points per game. Osojnik was named to the Freshman All-MAC Team, shooting 36.5% from three-point range while converting a team-high 65 three-pointers.
»Eastern Michigan's Stan Heath is in his fourth year at the helm of the Eagles, holding a 31-63 record at EMU and a 240-270 record over 17 years as a head coach.

HOOPING HENRY
Junior Christian Henry netted a team-high 17 points at Texas State, Nov. 8. Henry added a team-high three steals. The Panola CC transfer has not only shown the ability to score but also draw fouls as he drew a game-high five fouls against the Bobcats. Henry also drew five fouls against Central State in the exhibition, Oct. 30, while scoring 21 points.

J-BILL: SIX OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS AT TEXAS ST.
Senior Jalin Billingsley recorded six offensive rebounds at Texas State, Nov. 4. Only nine players nationally had more offensive boards than Billingsley on opening night as the senior topped the MAC in the category. Billingsley had seven total rebounds with eight points.

14 OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS AT TEXAS STATE
Eastern hauled in 14 offensive rebounds at Texas State, Nov. 4, a figure that ranks second in the MAC only behind Ball State's 17 at Georgia State. Senior Jalin Billingsley recorded six offensive rebounds while senior Da'Sean Nelson was the other Eagle to post multiple offensive boards.

JALEN TERRY: FIVE ASSISTS, SEVEN REBOUNDS
Senior Jalen Terry tallied a team-high five assists while matching senior Jalin Billingsley's team high with seven rebounds at Texas State, Nov. 4. His five assists are the most by an Eagle in a season opener since Noah Morgan also had five against Siena Heights, Nov. 8, 2019.

DEFENSE AT TEXAS STATE, NOV. 8
Eastern Michigan limited Texas State to 64 points and a 41.7% shooting mark, both of which are third-best in the MAC after opening night. Eastern held the Bobcats to just one made field goal in the game's final 9:43.

Western Michigan allowed 60 points at Coastal Carolina while Miami gave up 63 to Appalachian State while limiting the Mountaineers to a MAC-best .396 defensive shooting mark. Ball State was second in field goal percentage defense at .415 (Georgia State).

MAC 4-8 AGAINST THE SBC
The MAC finished 4-8 against the Sun Belt on opening night. The conferences will square off at MAC sites, Feb. 8, with opponents to-be-determined to conclude the 2024-25 MAC-SBC Challenge.

FORCED 25 TURNOVERS VS. CENTRAL STATE
Eastern forced 25 CSU turnovers, in the 85-63 exhibition win over Central State, Oct. 30. The Eagles outscored the Marauders 38-7 in points scored off turnovers. Against Central State, the Eagles surpassed last season's game-high mark in steals (10), taking the ball 14 times. The team turned defense into offense consistently, scoring 38 points off turnovers and winning the battle in the paint. Redshirt sophomore Trey Pettigrew grabbed a team-high four steals.

2024-25 PRESEASON ALL-MAC TEAMS
First Team
Payton Sparks, Senior, Center, Ball State
Anthony Pritchard, Senior, Guard, Central Michigan
VonCameron Davis, R-Senior, Forward, Kent State
AJ Clayton, Senior, Forward, Ohio
Javan Simmons, Sophomore, Forward, Toledo

Second Team
Isaiah Gray, Senior, Guard, Akron
Jalen Sullinger, Senior, Guard, Kent State
Shereef Mitchell, Graduate Student, Guard, Ohio
AJ Brown, R-Sophomore, Guard, Ohio
Isaiah Adams, Fifth Year, Guard, Toledo

PRESEASON PICKED 11TH
After finishing 10th in 2023-24, EMU was picked ninth in the MAC preseason coaches' poll.

2024-25 MAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

(First Place Votes)

1. Ohio (11) – 121
2. Akron (1) – 106
3. Kent State – 99
4. Toledo – 95
5. Bowling Green – 73
6. Miami – 72
7. Ball State – 67
8. Central Michigan – 55
9. Eastern Michigan – 36
10. Western Michigan – 33
11. Northern Illinois – 24
12. Buffalo – 11

Tournament Champion: Ohio (8), Kent State (3), Toledo (1)

The six Ohio schools made up the top six while the bottom six is filled with the rest of the MAC schools.

MICHIGAN MATCH-UPS
The Eagles play three in-state opponents in non-conference action with contests against Siena Heights (Nov. 8), Oakland (Nov. 21), and Detroit Mercy (Nov. 30).

NEW FOE, WHO DIS?
The Eagles added competition against three first-time opponents this season; they face off against Texas State, Nov. 4 (L, 44-64), Houston Christian, Nov. 25, and Wright State, Dec. 21.

FIVE OF SIX TRUE ROAD GAMES TO START
Eastern Michigan has five true road games in its first six contests to start the season for the first time since 1936-37 when Elton J. Rynearson was the head coach. EMU's football stadium is named "Rynearson Stadium" in his honor.

WHO'S BACK??
EMU returns four players from its 2023-24 roster including seniors Jalin Billingsley, Yusuf Jihad, and Micah Schnyders, as well as sophomore Arne Osojnik.

WHO'S GONE??
EMU lost 10 players from its 2023-24 game one roster including Tyson Acuff (Rutgers), Orlando Lovejoy (Detroit Mercy), Legend Geeter (Detroit Mercy), Conner Serven (Virginia Tech), Cyril Martynov (Eastern Kentucky), Julius Ellerbe (Coppin State), John McGriff (transfer portal - no destination), Javantae Randle (Central State), Prakash Ketterhagen (Lourdes), and Andrew Wells (graduation). The Eagles also lost Director of Operations LaMonta Stone (Assistant Coach - Detroit Mercy) and Graduate Assistant Nick Madray (graduation --> Utah Jazz).

WHAT'S GONE??
EMU lost 1,332 of its 2,047 points (65.07%) from the 2023-24 season, most notably leading scorer Tyson Acuff, who averaged 21.7 ppg (8th in the nation) on 43/29/81 shooting splits and transferred to Rutgers.

FRESH FACES
EMU added 11 newcomers to its 2024-25 roster including seniors Jalen Terry (DePaul), Da'Sean Nelson (DePaul), John Shanu II (UTRGV), and Cooper Smith (Michigan), juniors Christian Henry (Panola College), Julian Lewis (Miami), and Trey Pettigrew (Salt Lake CC), and freshmen Mario Brunetto (Classical Gymnasium), Mbaye N'Diaye (SEED Academy), Godslove Nwabude (Zion Prep), and Dillon Tingler (Huntington Prep).

DEPAUL DUO TO YPSILANTI
Jalen Terry and Da'Sean Nelson both came to Ypsilanti from DePaul and are expected to have big roles for the Eagles in 2024-25. Terry averaged 8.5 ppg and Nelson scored 9.7 ppg for the Blue Demons in 2023-24.

STAYING HOME
Eastern Michigan has just four players (Yusuf Jihad, Farmington Hills; Jalen Terry, Flint; Cooper Smith, Mio; and Julian Lewis, Ypsilanti) from the Mitten State on its 2024-25 roster, EMU's fewest since 2020-21 (four).

INTERNATIONAL INFLUX
International student-athlete representation doubled on the Eagles 15-player roster this season, as they added three true freshmen from Senegal (Mbaye N'Diaye), Nigeria (Godslove Nwabude), and Italy (Mario Brunetto), respectively. The trio joins sophomore Arne Osojnik who represented Slovenia twice as a member of the U18 national team at the Euro Championships. A complete breakdown of the EMU roster can be found on page 11.

Most international true freshmen in the nation:
1. Buffalo - 6
2. Florida Atlantic - 5
t3. Eastern Michigan - 3
                Manhattan - 3
                Oregon State - 3
                San Francisco - 3
                Seattle - 3
                UT-Martin - 3
                Weber State - 3

Most African true freshmen in the nation:
t1. Eastern Michigan - 2
                Seton Hall - 2

Osojnik is one of five players from Slovenia in the country.

Slovenian MBB Players at NCAA Division I:
Arne Osojnik - Eastern Michigan
Klemen Vuga - UAPB
Urban Klavzar - Florida
Jan Vide - LMU (Calif.)
Sasa Ciani - UIC

Brunetto is one of 17 Italians players while N'Diaye is one of 32 Sengalese players and Nwabude is one of 38 Nigerian players.

THR33-POINT STR3AK, 614-STRAIGHT GAM3S
Eastern, which hit five threes against Texas State, Nov. 4, 2024, has now hit at least one triple in 614-straight games. EMU last failed to score from downtown Jan. 24, 2004, when Miami held the Eagles to 0-of-7 from behind the arc.

DOUBLEHEADER DAY
The Eagles are scheduled to play three double-headers with the EMU women's basketball team in 2023-24 with four of the five doubleheaders taking place in Ypsilanti. Both the EMU men's and women's teams will play Jan. 11 (vs. Akron), Feb. 15 (men vs. Toledo, women vs. Ball State), and Feb. 22 (Northern Illinois).

The men's team was 5-0 at home in doubleheader games in 2023-24.

EMONI BATES NBA + G-LEAGUE
Former Eagle Emoni Bates was named a G-League All-Star with the Cleveland Charge in 2023-24, averaging 24.8 ppg. Bates also appeared in 15 games with the Cavaliers during the 2023-24 season. He underwent surgery in early October to repair a torn meniscus and is expected to return to action at some point during the 2024-25 season.

NEXT UP
Eastern Michigan will travel to IU-Indianapolis, Nov. 14, before staying on the road to face Cleveland State, Nov. 16.

FOLLOW US
For the most up-to-date information on the Eagles, visit EMUEagles.com. Fans can also follow the team on social media, including Twitter (@EMU_MBB) and Instagram (@EMUMBB).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyson Acuff

Jalin Billingsley

Mario Brunetto

Julius Ellerbe

Legend Geeter

Christian Henry

Yusuf Jihad

Julian Lewis

Orlando Lovejoy

Cyril Martynov

John McGriff

Mbaye N'Diaye

Da'Sean Nelson

Godslove Nwabude

Arne Osojnik

Trey Pettigrew

Javantae Randle

Micah Schnyders

John Shanu II

Cooper Smith

Jalen Terry

Dillon Tingler

Andrew Wells

Eastern Michigan Athletics