Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
16-16,9-9MAC
Miami
24-8,14-4MAC
Eastern Drops Tight MAC Tournament Battle to Miami
3/13/2025 6:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Eagles fell, 81-75, in game that featured 12 ties, 12 lead changes
Cinematic Highlights | Photo Gallery
CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The No. 7 seed Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team dropped a tight 81-75 decision to No. 2 seed Miami University Thursday, March 13, inside the Rocket Arena in a Mid-American Conference Tournament Quarterfinal game that featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes.
Jalen Terry (Flint, Mich./Beecher/Oregon/DePaul) netted 21 points, which included five first-half threes, while Christian Henry (Chicago, Ill./The Skill Factory/Panola College) led the team with 24 points.
How it Happened
Miami scored the game's first nine points, but a 16-7 Eastern run tied the game at 16-16.
Helped by a pair of Terry three-pointers, a quick 8-3 spurt for the Eagles put them up, 27-24, before the game was tied at 29-29 heading into halftime.
Neither team was able to pull away in the second half as the winning team's lead was not more than four until Miami put a pair of free throws with 6:01 left.
Eastern had led, 59-57, with 7:17 to go, but a 17-2 RedHawk run gave Miami its largest lead of the game at 74-61 with 3:04 left.
Eastern battled to the end, cutting the deficit to as few as six at the 1:02 mark before a trio of Miami free throws down the stretch iced the game.
Game Notes
» Eastern moved to 16-16 overall while Miami moved to 24-8 overall and advanced to the MAC Tournament Semifinals.
» Eastern Michigan was 28-of-67 (41.8%) from the floor and 12-of-29 (41.4%) from three-point range while Miami was 25-of-58 (43.1%) from the field and 12-of-29 (41.4%) from deep.
» EMU's 12 made three-pointers matched its season high set against Central Michigan, Feb. 28.
» Terry's 21 points marks his 10th game with at least 20 points this season. The Flint, Mich., native converted five three-pointers, his eighth game with at least five made three-pointers this season.
» Terry, the MAC leader in minutes at 37.4 minutes per game entering Thursday, played all 40 minutes.
» Henry's 24-point game represents his seventh game with at least 20 points and 25th game with at least 10 points this season.
» With his five made three-pointers, Henry matched his career high set against Toledo, Jan. 7.
» Da'Sean Nelson (Toledo, Ohio/Robert S. Rogers/Kilgore College/DePaul), who scored 17 points to go with seven rebounds, matched his season high with 12 fouls drawn, set against Central Michigan, Jan. 14 and Feb. 28. Nelson and Henry were the only Eagles to get to the free throw line.
» Eastern posted two blocks, marking 28-straight games with at least one block, the team's longest streak since blocking at least one shot in every game during the 2021-22 season.
» EMU's nine turnovers are its fourth-lowest total of the season.
» The Eagles registered a season-low six assists while Miami's bench outscored Eastern's, 35-8.
Historical Notes
» EMU moved to 30-57 against Miami.
» Eastern made its first appearance in the MAC Tournament since the 2019-20 season, playing postseason basketball in Cleveland for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.
» The Eagles dropped to 32-36 all-time in the MAC Tournament, including a 13-13 mark in the MAC Quarterfinals and a 5-5 clip against the RedHawks.
» Eastern, which hit 12 threes against Miami, has now hit at least one triple in 645-straight games. EMU last failed to score from downtown Jan. 24, 2004, when the RedHawks held the Eagles to 0-of-7 from behind the arc. The Eagles have converted multiple three-pointers in 67-straight contests, not having done so most recently in a 1-for-15 performance against Akron, Feb.14, 2023.
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