YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) –Eastern Michigan escaped the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament competition with a hard fought 72-69 win over Northern Illinois, Monday at the Convocation Center.
The game was back-and-forth throughout, with the Eagles (16-16, 7-11 MAC) leading down the stretch, but the Huskies (15-17, 7-11 MAC) not going down without a fight.
Eastern Michigan finished . . .
The game was back-and-forth throughout, with the Eagles (16-16, 7-11 MAC) leading down the stretch, but the Huskies (15-17, 7-11 MAC) not going down without a fight.
Eastern Michigan finished . . .
. . . the game 27-of-54 (50 percent) from the floor, also sinking six three-pointers in the process. EMU finished with 38 points in the paint, compared to NIU's 32. Additionally, the Eastern defense forced 15 Northern turnovers, cashing them in for eight steals and 12 points off turnovers. Finally, the Green and White dominated in fast break points by a tally of 15-2.
Marin Maric led Northern Illinois with 24 points and 16 rebounds. Levi Bradley registered 17 points, while Eugene German netted 10.
Leading the way for the Eagles was sophomore James Thompson IV, who notched his 38th career double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Ray Lee also scored 20, hitting three long balls, while also dishing three assists. The only other Eagle to finish in double figures was senior Ty Toney, who had 13 points.
Lee started the Eagles off strong, drilling a three on the opening possession for the early 3-0 lead. After a pair of buckets from Northern Illinois, a steal and layup from Toney put Eastern back in front, 5-4.
NIU’s Maric continued his strong start, making it 8-5 before an alley-oop from junior Tim Bond to Thompson made it a one-point game, 8-7, at the first media timeout.
Northern rattled off five unanswered to make it 12-8 before a jumper from senior Willie Mangum IV and a Toney transition layup tied it up at 12. Four more from the Huskies kept the lead at four, 16-12, at the second media timeout with 11:42 left in the first. The cold streak for EMU continued as the Huskies opened an eight-point lead, 21-13, at the 9:25 mark. Lee then drained his second long ball of the game, pulling the Green and White back within five.
Northern continued attacking the paint, increasing the lead to seven before a Thompson layup cut that back down to five. A missed three from Mangum was saved by a put-back from Thompson, bringing the Eagles back within three, 23-20.
The momentum carried over to the next possession, as redshirt sophomore Jordan Nobles hit a three to tie the game at 23. NIU answered on the other end with a three of its own. The trend continued, as Lee hit his third three of the game to keep it tied at 26 at the next media timeout.
The back-and-forth battle continued with NIU scoring on one end and Thompson throwing down another alley-oop on the other end, keeping the two teams knotted up. The first half ended on a high note for Eastern, as Thompson gave EMU a 30-29 lead with five seconds left after a nice feed from Toney. A few seconds later, Mangum stole the ball and knocked down a buzzer-beating three to put the Eagles in front, 33-29, at halftime.
NIU opened the second half with four quick points to tie it up, but Bond put the Green and White back in front with a nice layup. Lee then breezed past a few NIU defenders and laid it in, after which Toney notched a layup of his own to force a NIU timeout with the Eagles ahead 39-34. A three from Bond further extended the lead, while Thompson scored on the next possession to make it 46-41.
EMU kept the momentum rolling as Bond threw down a big transition dunk to push the lead to nine, 50-41. Both teams continued scoring, as the Huskies pulled back within six, 52-46, behind six straight points from Levi Bradley. Toney answered right back with four points of his own, as the Eagles increased the lead back to eight, 54-46, at the media timeout.
EMU led 58-51, as the 10-minute mark approached. Neither team could muster much offense over the next two minutes, as the score remained the same with 9:14 remaining. NIU broke through, tacking on four more to come within three, 58-55. The next media timeout saw the Eagles leading by five, 60-55, after a jumper from Lee.
The pace then slowed down a bit as a result of fouls, as Thompson hit a pair from the charity stripe to keep the Green and White out front by six, 63-57. The slow play continued with redshirt sophomore Blake Brown earned his first points of the game on a free throw, and with less than five minutes remaining, the Eagles led 66-59. A three pointer just before the final media timeout made it 68-63 EMU with 3:54 on the clock.
Coming out of the break, Lee drove the lane and converted the tough layup, getting fouled in the process and drilling the free throw to finish the three-point play. The Huskies continued hanging around, as the score stood at 71-66 as the clock ticked below the two-minute mark. NIU connected on one of two free throws, pulling within four, but a clutch rebound from Toney kept the ball in EMU possession.
The Huskies continued chipping away, cutting the Eastern lead to two, 71-69, with 26.4 seconds left. Northern went to the line with an opportunity to tie it up, but missed both free throws and Thompson came down with the rebound. The Huskies were unable to get a shot off within the final seconds, securing the Eastern victory by a final tally of 72-69.
Eastern Michigan will face No. 1 seed Akron in quarterfinal action Thursday (noon) at Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland.
Marin Maric led Northern Illinois with 24 points and 16 rebounds. Levi Bradley registered 17 points, while Eugene German netted 10.
Leading the way for the Eagles was sophomore James Thompson IV, who notched his 38th career double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Ray Lee also scored 20, hitting three long balls, while also dishing three assists. The only other Eagle to finish in double figures was senior Ty Toney, who had 13 points.
Lee started the Eagles off strong, drilling a three on the opening possession for the early 3-0 lead. After a pair of buckets from Northern Illinois, a steal and layup from Toney put Eastern back in front, 5-4.
NIU’s Maric continued his strong start, making it 8-5 before an alley-oop from junior Tim Bond to Thompson made it a one-point game, 8-7, at the first media timeout.
Northern rattled off five unanswered to make it 12-8 before a jumper from senior Willie Mangum IV and a Toney transition layup tied it up at 12. Four more from the Huskies kept the lead at four, 16-12, at the second media timeout with 11:42 left in the first. The cold streak for EMU continued as the Huskies opened an eight-point lead, 21-13, at the 9:25 mark. Lee then drained his second long ball of the game, pulling the Green and White back within five.
Northern continued attacking the paint, increasing the lead to seven before a Thompson layup cut that back down to five. A missed three from Mangum was saved by a put-back from Thompson, bringing the Eagles back within three, 23-20.
The momentum carried over to the next possession, as redshirt sophomore Jordan Nobles hit a three to tie the game at 23. NIU answered on the other end with a three of its own. The trend continued, as Lee hit his third three of the game to keep it tied at 26 at the next media timeout.
The back-and-forth battle continued with NIU scoring on one end and Thompson throwing down another alley-oop on the other end, keeping the two teams knotted up. The first half ended on a high note for Eastern, as Thompson gave EMU a 30-29 lead with five seconds left after a nice feed from Toney. A few seconds later, Mangum stole the ball and knocked down a buzzer-beating three to put the Eagles in front, 33-29, at halftime.
NIU opened the second half with four quick points to tie it up, but Bond put the Green and White back in front with a nice layup. Lee then breezed past a few NIU defenders and laid it in, after which Toney notched a layup of his own to force a NIU timeout with the Eagles ahead 39-34. A three from Bond further extended the lead, while Thompson scored on the next possession to make it 46-41.
EMU kept the momentum rolling as Bond threw down a big transition dunk to push the lead to nine, 50-41. Both teams continued scoring, as the Huskies pulled back within six, 52-46, behind six straight points from Levi Bradley. Toney answered right back with four points of his own, as the Eagles increased the lead back to eight, 54-46, at the media timeout.
EMU led 58-51, as the 10-minute mark approached. Neither team could muster much offense over the next two minutes, as the score remained the same with 9:14 remaining. NIU broke through, tacking on four more to come within three, 58-55. The next media timeout saw the Eagles leading by five, 60-55, after a jumper from Lee.
The pace then slowed down a bit as a result of fouls, as Thompson hit a pair from the charity stripe to keep the Green and White out front by six, 63-57. The slow play continued with redshirt sophomore Blake Brown earned his first points of the game on a free throw, and with less than five minutes remaining, the Eagles led 66-59. A three pointer just before the final media timeout made it 68-63 EMU with 3:54 on the clock.
Coming out of the break, Lee drove the lane and converted the tough layup, getting fouled in the process and drilling the free throw to finish the three-point play. The Huskies continued hanging around, as the score stood at 71-66 as the clock ticked below the two-minute mark. NIU connected on one of two free throws, pulling within four, but a clutch rebound from Toney kept the ball in EMU possession.
The Huskies continued chipping away, cutting the Eastern lead to two, 71-69, with 26.4 seconds left. Northern went to the line with an opportunity to tie it up, but missed both free throws and Thompson came down with the rebound. The Huskies were unable to get a shot off within the final seconds, securing the Eastern victory by a final tally of 72-69.
Eastern Michigan will face No. 1 seed Akron in quarterfinal action Thursday (noon) at Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland.
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