By EVAN MEYER
KENT, OHIO – Junior Paul Jackson scored 17 points, including two free throws with 11.7 seconds remaining, to give the Eastern Michigan Eagles a 71-67 win over the Kent State Golden Flashes in a nip-and-tuck affair Tuesday night at the MAC Center.
With the win, Eastern Michigan (13-10, 4-6 MAC) won . . .
KENT, OHIO – Junior Paul Jackson scored 17 points, including two free throws with 11.7 seconds remaining, to give the Eastern Michigan Eagles a 71-67 win over the Kent State Golden Flashes in a nip-and-tuck affair Tuesday night at the MAC Center.
With the win, Eastern Michigan (13-10, 4-6 MAC) won . . .
. . . consecutive games for the first time since early December, and notched its first win over Kent State (12-11, 6-4) in Northeast Ohio for the first time since February, 1998 -- a span of 11-games.
“I thought we executed all game long.” Eagles head coach Rob Murphy said. “It was a big win for us to build momentum in the second half of the season.”
Jackson led five EMU players in double figures as junior Elijah Minnie added 15 with six rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Junior James Thompson IV had 12 and eight boards with a pair of blocks. Redshirt freshman Ty Groce (11) and junior Jordan Nobles (10) combined for 21 points off the bench.
Asked about his point guard, Murphy said, “I thought he did a great job in picking his spots -- when to shoot to score and when it was time to pass the ball.”
The Golden Flashes, meanwhile, saw their five–game home winning streak come to an end and lost consecutive games for the third time this season.
“It was a disappointing loss. I thought the team that competed the hardest would win the game.” KSU head man Rob Senderoff said. “At the end of the day, EMU got almost every 50-50 ball on the evening. They came to win tonight.”
Junior Jaylin Walker led all scorers in the contest with 24 points, going 6-of-13 from three point range. Sophomore Danny Pippen added 13 with 10 rebounds, while freshman BJ Duling came off the bench to score 11.
It was a close game throughout, played within a margin of 12 points.
The teams battled back and forth early until Groce scored seven straight points to open a four-point Eagles lead (23-19) at the 7:55 mark.
“I thought our bench was huge tonight.” Murphy said. “Nobles went four-for four (and) was big, as well as Groce.”
The Green and White opened a six-point lead 33-27 just before halftime on a conventional three point play by Minnie and led by five at intermission 33-28.
KSU used an 8-2 run at the start of the second half to take the first of its two leads. The second came on a three from the left corner by Walker, who had 13 in the half. That bucket made it 41-39 with 14:32 remaining.
EMU would take the lead for good on a slam by Thompson, who had four in the contest. A pair of alleyoops and a put-back by Jackson helped give the Eagles a 47-43 lead with 10:45 remaining.
The game remained close but EMU responded with key scores would to hold off the hosts.
Minnie, a transfer from Robert Morris in his first season with the Eagles, connected from the left arc with 7;29 remaining, extending the lead to four. When KSU closed within one, 58-57, Nobles hit a three from the left corner.
“We got a stop late, the ball is bouncing on the floor,” Senderoff said. “They got it and Nobles hit the three. It was indicative of the evening for us.”
Eastern Michigan extended the lead to eight 65-57 with 1:04 remaining on a pair of Jackson free throws. However, the Flashes kept fighting, closing the deficit to two on a deep three by Walker with 11.7 seconds remaining.
Jackson subsequently sealed KSU’s fate with a pair of free throws and Eastern claimed the victory.
The key stats in the game were
The Eagles “formula” was again apparent in the stats. They registered 11 steals and dished out 17 assists. They also dominated inside with Thompson and Minnie scoring 48 points to the Flashes 20.
KSU nearly matched the latter number in turnovers (19) and EMU converted the miscues into 22 points.
Asked about the season high in turnovers during the MAC games and third most overall in the campaign, Senderoff said “It was ridiculous number for us. That is not a good formula to be successful. It was too many. Way too many.”
In addition, the visitors had 13 second chance points and 14 fast break points
NEXT:
Both teams return to action Saturday. Kent State travels to Ball State to face the Cardinals, while Eastern Michigan heads to Bowling Green to battle the Falcons.
“I thought we executed all game long.” Eagles head coach Rob Murphy said. “It was a big win for us to build momentum in the second half of the season.”
Jackson led five EMU players in double figures as junior Elijah Minnie added 15 with six rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Junior James Thompson IV had 12 and eight boards with a pair of blocks. Redshirt freshman Ty Groce (11) and junior Jordan Nobles (10) combined for 21 points off the bench.
Asked about his point guard, Murphy said, “I thought he did a great job in picking his spots -- when to shoot to score and when it was time to pass the ball.”
The Golden Flashes, meanwhile, saw their five–game home winning streak come to an end and lost consecutive games for the third time this season.
“It was a disappointing loss. I thought the team that competed the hardest would win the game.” KSU head man Rob Senderoff said. “At the end of the day, EMU got almost every 50-50 ball on the evening. They came to win tonight.”
Junior Jaylin Walker led all scorers in the contest with 24 points, going 6-of-13 from three point range. Sophomore Danny Pippen added 13 with 10 rebounds, while freshman BJ Duling came off the bench to score 11.
It was a close game throughout, played within a margin of 12 points.
The teams battled back and forth early until Groce scored seven straight points to open a four-point Eagles lead (23-19) at the 7:55 mark.
“I thought our bench was huge tonight.” Murphy said. “Nobles went four-for four (and) was big, as well as Groce.”
The Green and White opened a six-point lead 33-27 just before halftime on a conventional three point play by Minnie and led by five at intermission 33-28.
KSU used an 8-2 run at the start of the second half to take the first of its two leads. The second came on a three from the left corner by Walker, who had 13 in the half. That bucket made it 41-39 with 14:32 remaining.
EMU would take the lead for good on a slam by Thompson, who had four in the contest. A pair of alleyoops and a put-back by Jackson helped give the Eagles a 47-43 lead with 10:45 remaining.
The game remained close but EMU responded with key scores would to hold off the hosts.
Minnie, a transfer from Robert Morris in his first season with the Eagles, connected from the left arc with 7;29 remaining, extending the lead to four. When KSU closed within one, 58-57, Nobles hit a three from the left corner.
“We got a stop late, the ball is bouncing on the floor,” Senderoff said. “They got it and Nobles hit the three. It was indicative of the evening for us.”
Eastern Michigan extended the lead to eight 65-57 with 1:04 remaining on a pair of Jackson free throws. However, the Flashes kept fighting, closing the deficit to two on a deep three by Walker with 11.7 seconds remaining.
Jackson subsequently sealed KSU’s fate with a pair of free throws and Eastern claimed the victory.
The key stats in the game were
The Eagles “formula” was again apparent in the stats. They registered 11 steals and dished out 17 assists. They also dominated inside with Thompson and Minnie scoring 48 points to the Flashes 20.
KSU nearly matched the latter number in turnovers (19) and EMU converted the miscues into 22 points.
Asked about the season high in turnovers during the MAC games and third most overall in the campaign, Senderoff said “It was ridiculous number for us. That is not a good formula to be successful. It was too many. Way too many.”
In addition, the visitors had 13 second chance points and 14 fast break points
NEXT:
Both teams return to action Saturday. Kent State travels to Ball State to face the Cardinals, while Eastern Michigan heads to Bowling Green to battle the Falcons.
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