KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) –Eastern Michigan came away with one of its biggest wins of the season Tuesday, going on the road to take down Western Michigan 74-58 at University Arena. The victory clinched a first-round bye for EMU in next week’s Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Eastern Michigan (19-11, 10-7 MAC) now . . .
Eastern Michigan (19-11, 10-7 MAC) now . . .
. . . holds the tie-break advantage over WMU (17-13, 9-8 MAC), and any other team they may tie in the final season standings.
The Eagles 10 wins in MAC play matches the best under head coach Rob Murphy, who also guided EMU to a 10-8 MAC mark in 2013-14. Tuesday was also the first win for the Eagles in Kalamazoo since Feb. 29, 2012.
EMU was led by its upper-classmen, including redshirt junior Paul Jackson, who scored a game-high 21 points while also dishing out eight assists.
Fellow redshirt junior Elijah Minnie dropped in 18 with a game-high nine boards, while junior James Thompson IV added 14 points and seven rebounds. Senior Tim Bond added 10 points, eight boards, six assists, and four steals.
The Eagles rode an 18-0 first half run to erase an early deficit and went on to build a halftime lead to 35-24.
Eastern shot an impressive 41.9 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, including a 36.8 percent mark from downtown, while holding the Broncos to 30.6 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc.
When Western inched closer in the second half, it was a Minnie triple that pushed the lead from five to eight, and the Broncos would get no closer the rest of the way. Eastern led the game for nearly the entire way, trailing for just 2:03.
On the night, Eastern Michigan shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the floor and 37 percent (10-of-27) from downtown. Perhaps more impressively, EMU held Western to 37 percent (22-of-59) from the floor and a meager 21 percent (3-of-14) from the three-point line.
Eastern also won the turnover battle, forcing WMU into 10 in the game while only committing six themselves. No single player had more than one turnover for the Green and White.
Josh Davis (13) and Brandon Johnson (10) were the only Broncos to reach double figures, although standout senior guard Thomas Wilder was just one off with nine points.
NEXT:
Both teams return to action Friday.
Eastern wraps up the regular season with a Friday night showdown at Toledo (6 p.m. ET). That game will be on a national broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.
Western Michigan closes at Central Michigan (7 p.m. ET)
The Eagles 10 wins in MAC play matches the best under head coach Rob Murphy, who also guided EMU to a 10-8 MAC mark in 2013-14. Tuesday was also the first win for the Eagles in Kalamazoo since Feb. 29, 2012.
EMU was led by its upper-classmen, including redshirt junior Paul Jackson, who scored a game-high 21 points while also dishing out eight assists.
Fellow redshirt junior Elijah Minnie dropped in 18 with a game-high nine boards, while junior James Thompson IV added 14 points and seven rebounds. Senior Tim Bond added 10 points, eight boards, six assists, and four steals.
The Eagles rode an 18-0 first half run to erase an early deficit and went on to build a halftime lead to 35-24.
Eastern shot an impressive 41.9 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, including a 36.8 percent mark from downtown, while holding the Broncos to 30.6 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc.
When Western inched closer in the second half, it was a Minnie triple that pushed the lead from five to eight, and the Broncos would get no closer the rest of the way. Eastern led the game for nearly the entire way, trailing for just 2:03.
On the night, Eastern Michigan shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the floor and 37 percent (10-of-27) from downtown. Perhaps more impressively, EMU held Western to 37 percent (22-of-59) from the floor and a meager 21 percent (3-of-14) from the three-point line.
Eastern also won the turnover battle, forcing WMU into 10 in the game while only committing six themselves. No single player had more than one turnover for the Green and White.
Josh Davis (13) and Brandon Johnson (10) were the only Broncos to reach double figures, although standout senior guard Thomas Wilder was just one off with nine points.
NEXT:
Both teams return to action Friday.
Eastern wraps up the regular season with a Friday night showdown at Toledo (6 p.m. ET). That game will be on a national broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.
Western Michigan closes at Central Michigan (7 p.m. ET)
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