Eastern Michigan bounces back to win men’s basketball 62-56

YPSILANTI, Mich.Emoni Bates scored a game-high 26 points as Eastern Michigan used 23 turnovers to overcome a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat Central Michigan 62-56 in men’s basketball Saturday afternoon at the George Gervin Game/Above Center.

It was a game of missed opportunities for Central Michigan, which held a commanding 12-point halftime (30-18), outrebounded Eastern Michigan by 14 boards (45-31) and limited the host Eagles to 37 percent shooting (20-54). ) shots and 13.6 percent (3-22) three-pointers.

With the score tied 54-54, Eastern Michigan used two CMU turnovers to outscore the Chippewas 8-2 in the final 2:22. Bates converted 1-2 free throws, then grabbed an offensive rebound after CMU missed two free throws for a 57-54 lead with 1:20 left. After a CMU turnover, Legend Geeter was fouled and made two free throws for a 59-54 advantage with 43 seconds left. Another CMU run of several long passes led to two free throws by EMU’s Tyson Acuff and a seven-point lead (61-54) with 26 seconds to go.

Central Michigan (6-9, 1-1 MAC) played without its top two scorers. CMU played its ninth straight game without an All-MAC point guard Kevin Millerbut also a junior Jesse Zarzuela (14.7 points per game) did not see action.

Fast forward to another year Marcus Harding led Central Michigan with 15 points, a senior forward Brian Taylor registered his first double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds as a freshman guard Reggie Basso The final result was 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. With Zarzuela gone, the freshman Max Majerle played a career-high 38 minutes and scored six points on two 3-pointers.

Central Michigan dominated the first half as Chippewa built a 12-point (30-18) halftime lead despite shooting just 40.7 percent (11-27). In the first half, the Chippewas outshot EMU 28-12 and held the Eagles to 25.9 percent shooting (7-27).

After Eastern Michigan opened the game with a 3-pointer, Central Michigan took control with a 12-0 run. After Bass hit a 3-pointer, Chippewa went to work in the low post as Dear Ajiboye scored on a dunk, Harding followed with a 3-pointer and scored on the opening drive of the second opportunity. Taylor added a jumper and the Chippewas led 12-3.

The Chippewas used a 6-0 run to go up by 14 points (30-16) with a minute left in the first half. Junior Carrington McCaskill scored on a jumper, Harding converted two free throws and Taylor scored on a layup. But Eastern Michigan gained momentum before halftime with Acuff’s jumper.

Early in the second half, Eastern Michigan came back into the game and cut CMU’s lead to 32-26 with a key 8-0 run. Acuff hit a jumper, Bates followed with two free throws, Geeter scored on a second-chance basket after a CMU turnover and then hit a layup with 16:47 to play.

From there, Central Michigan kept EMU at bay until Bates hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 50-50 with 5:45 left.

Eastern Michigan improved to 4-11 overall and 1-1 in the MAC.

Central Michigan returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Dekalb, Ill., to face Northern Illinois in its third conference game. Tip-off is at 7:00 PM CT/8:00 PM ET.

CMU