With their victory, the Green and White improve to 8-1 in home openers under head coach Rob Murphy. The Eagles (1-0) had a half-dozen players reach double-figures in points in their season opener, which . . .
Redshirt senior Boubacar Toure logged his ninth-career double-double with the Green and White as he notched 13 points and a team-best 10 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Redshirt junior Ty Groce led EMU with 15 points while adding four boards and a pair of helpers, as fellow redshirt junior Chris Barnes finished with eight points and a team-high six assists off the bench in his EMU debut.
Junior newcomers Yeikson Montero and Noah Morgan each tallied 11 points, with the latter contributing five assists. Freshman Chris James added 13 points off the bench, going 4-of-5 from downtown along with four boards and a pair of steals, while junior Jalen King notched 10 bench points, four boards, a team-leading three blocks, and two swipes.
EMU finished 57.1 percent (32-of-56) from the floor and made half of its 18 three-point attempts, while holding Siena Heights to a 33.9 percent (19-of-56) efficiency.
The Eagles overmatched the Saints in steals (11-1), assists (20-9), points in the paint (44-14), points off turnovers (27-9), fast-break points (18-2), and blocks (6-3). The hosts also went 20-of-24 from the charity stripe, as SHU converted on just 4-of-15 free throw attempts.
The Eagles traded baskets with the Saints through the opening couple of minutes, but the Green and White grabbed the lead for good with 11 unanswered points to make it a 15-6 contest heading into the first media stoppage.
EMU continued to pull away from SHU, as back-to-back corner threes from freshman Shamar Dillard and James gave the hosts a commanding 25-9 lead with 11:59 left in the first half. In all, the Eagles erased an early two-point deficit with a 21-3 run lasting nearly seven minutes, and held a 49-26 advantage at the intermission.
After Siena Heights cut EMU's lead to 18 in the second period, the Eagles erupted for a 20-3 run spanning more than seven minutes to jump ahead, 67-37, with 9:31 left in the contest. With the result well in hand, EMU posted a 9-0 run in the waning moments to earn a convincing 42-point win and rise to 5-0 all-time against the Saints.
Eastern will remain at home to take on a pair of NAIA opponents, as it welcomes Goshen College to the Convocation Center Tuesday, Nov. 12 before facing Michigan-Dearborn Thursday, Nov. 14. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m.