By MIKE SMITH
YPSILANTI, MI – Eastern Michigan head coach Rob Murphy wanted a “bounce back” win for his Eagles Tuesday, especially with EMU on home hardwood and coming off a bitter loss.
Mission accomplished – barely!!!
After owning a 33-18 halftime lead, EMU held on to edge Miami 58-57 at the Convocation Center. Tim Bond’s steal . . .
YPSILANTI, MI – Eastern Michigan head coach Rob Murphy wanted a “bounce back” win for his Eagles Tuesday, especially with EMU on home hardwood and coming off a bitter loss.
Mission accomplished – barely!!!
After owning a 33-18 halftime lead, EMU held on to edge Miami 58-57 at the Convocation Center. Tim Bond’s steal . . .
. . . in the closing seconds sealed the win for Eastern, which had blown a 19-point lead Saturday in an overtime loss at Bowling Green.
Early in Tuesday’s matchup, the Eagles (15-22, 6-7 MAC) used a dominant defense to once again stymie Miami. The RedHawks were held to 30.4 percent shooting during EMU’s 58-48 victory in Oxford back on Jan. 27.
At least in that meeting, Miami (13-13, 6-7 MAC) held a 30-29 lead at the break. In Tuesday’s rematch, the RedHawks offense struggled mightily in the first half for the second time in four days. After MU took a 5-0 lead on two quick baskets, Eastern reeled off 10 unanswered points.
Six came on treys by Elijah Minnie, who was just warming up for a big first half. He made 4 of 7 triples in the period, scoring 15 points. Although he did not hit another three in the second half, Minnie finished with a game-high 24 points.
Likewise, EMU forward James Thompson IV found much of his offensive success before intermission. He had 10 points in the first stanza before finishing with 15 points. Registering seven caroms in each period, he notched yet another double-double and also added four blocks on the evening.
Paul Jackson (11) also reached double figures for Eastern, although 9 of his 11 points came in the second stanza. The Eagles would need every one of them
Miami, meanwhile, registered five of its seven first half field goals in either the first 2:14 of the game or last 2:42 of the opening period.
It was the second consecutive game that MU’s offense struggled before intermission – particularly from deep. The RedHawks connected on 1 of 13 first half treys against Toledo last Friday. They were 2 of 11 (18.2%) against EMU as teams headed to the locker room.
And yet it would be treys that got Miami back in the game.
Repeated first half attempts to get points inside against Eastern Michigan had yielded little and the Eagles also flustered Miami’s perimeter shooting.
When Jake Wright’ drained a three to start a quick 7-0 run to open the second half, the RedHawks began to feed a hot hand. The junior eventually took nine shots – all threes – and made seven.
As Wright caught fire, so did forward Bam Bowman, a sophomore who tallied all 14 of his points in the second half.
Wright (21) and Bowman (14 points, 8 rebounds) were the only RedHawks in double figures. Rod Mills added nine and Darius Harper two as the Miami bench provided 43 of the RedHawks 57 points. Nike Sibande netted nine in a starting role.
A personal 9-2 run by Wright brought Miami to within four at 49-45 with 6:22 remaining.
The hosts got it back up to eight points (54-46) after Ellison knocked down a three from the corner, but MU kept nibbling away. When Wright hit a triple at 1:58, the Eagles lead was cut to 56-55.
Eastern Michigan leads the MAC in forced turnovers, and it finished with a 15-18 advantage over Miami. Two of the RedHawk miscues down the stretch proved critical. The first came at 1:04 when a heavily-defended MU player got caught up in the air. His relief pass sailed out of bounds.
Jackson then hit a pullup jumper in the lane at the other end, but Bowman scored from underneath to made it a 58-57 game with 22 seconds left.
When the Eagles missed the front end of ane-and-one on their next trip, Miami got the rebound. A time out was called with nine ticks left, but when play resumed, Bond came up with his fifth steal of the night and 58th of the season.
NEXT:
Both teams are back in action Saturday. Eastern Michigan is at Central Michigan (4:30 p.m. ET), while Miami visits another Convocation Center when the RedHawks face rival Ohio in Athens (3:30 p.m. ET)
NOTES:
>> Eastern Michigan has won three of its last four outings, with the only loss being Saturday’s overtime setback at Bowling Green.
>> The Eagles swept Miami for the first time since 1988.
>> Miami has lost three straight for the first time since last November.
>> The RedHawks bounced back from a 28 percent field goal percentage before intermission to finish at 40.8 percent for the game. Eastern Michigan was at 39.2 percent. The visitors shot 40.9 percent from distance, while EMU was at 35 percent
>> Eastern Michigan held advantages in rebounds 33-30 and made free throws (11 of15 to 8 of 11)..
Early in Tuesday’s matchup, the Eagles (15-22, 6-7 MAC) used a dominant defense to once again stymie Miami. The RedHawks were held to 30.4 percent shooting during EMU’s 58-48 victory in Oxford back on Jan. 27.
At least in that meeting, Miami (13-13, 6-7 MAC) held a 30-29 lead at the break. In Tuesday’s rematch, the RedHawks offense struggled mightily in the first half for the second time in four days. After MU took a 5-0 lead on two quick baskets, Eastern reeled off 10 unanswered points.
Six came on treys by Elijah Minnie, who was just warming up for a big first half. He made 4 of 7 triples in the period, scoring 15 points. Although he did not hit another three in the second half, Minnie finished with a game-high 24 points.
Likewise, EMU forward James Thompson IV found much of his offensive success before intermission. He had 10 points in the first stanza before finishing with 15 points. Registering seven caroms in each period, he notched yet another double-double and also added four blocks on the evening.
Paul Jackson (11) also reached double figures for Eastern, although 9 of his 11 points came in the second stanza. The Eagles would need every one of them
Miami, meanwhile, registered five of its seven first half field goals in either the first 2:14 of the game or last 2:42 of the opening period.
It was the second consecutive game that MU’s offense struggled before intermission – particularly from deep. The RedHawks connected on 1 of 13 first half treys against Toledo last Friday. They were 2 of 11 (18.2%) against EMU as teams headed to the locker room.
And yet it would be treys that got Miami back in the game.
Repeated first half attempts to get points inside against Eastern Michigan had yielded little and the Eagles also flustered Miami’s perimeter shooting.
When Jake Wright’ drained a three to start a quick 7-0 run to open the second half, the RedHawks began to feed a hot hand. The junior eventually took nine shots – all threes – and made seven.
As Wright caught fire, so did forward Bam Bowman, a sophomore who tallied all 14 of his points in the second half.
Wright (21) and Bowman (14 points, 8 rebounds) were the only RedHawks in double figures. Rod Mills added nine and Darius Harper two as the Miami bench provided 43 of the RedHawks 57 points. Nike Sibande netted nine in a starting role.
A personal 9-2 run by Wright brought Miami to within four at 49-45 with 6:22 remaining.
The hosts got it back up to eight points (54-46) after Ellison knocked down a three from the corner, but MU kept nibbling away. When Wright hit a triple at 1:58, the Eagles lead was cut to 56-55.
Eastern Michigan leads the MAC in forced turnovers, and it finished with a 15-18 advantage over Miami. Two of the RedHawk miscues down the stretch proved critical. The first came at 1:04 when a heavily-defended MU player got caught up in the air. His relief pass sailed out of bounds.
Jackson then hit a pullup jumper in the lane at the other end, but Bowman scored from underneath to made it a 58-57 game with 22 seconds left.
When the Eagles missed the front end of ane-and-one on their next trip, Miami got the rebound. A time out was called with nine ticks left, but when play resumed, Bond came up with his fifth steal of the night and 58th of the season.
NEXT:
Both teams are back in action Saturday. Eastern Michigan is at Central Michigan (4:30 p.m. ET), while Miami visits another Convocation Center when the RedHawks face rival Ohio in Athens (3:30 p.m. ET)
NOTES:
>> Eastern Michigan has won three of its last four outings, with the only loss being Saturday’s overtime setback at Bowling Green.
>> The Eagles swept Miami for the first time since 1988.
>> Miami has lost three straight for the first time since last November.
>> The RedHawks bounced back from a 28 percent field goal percentage before intermission to finish at 40.8 percent for the game. Eastern Michigan was at 39.2 percent. The visitors shot 40.9 percent from distance, while EMU was at 35 percent
>> Eastern Michigan held advantages in rebounds 33-30 and made free throws (11 of15 to 8 of 11)..
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