Carlos Medlock, Brandon Bowdry and Justin Dobbins are a formidable trio for Eastern Michigan University when they’re on the court, but they can’t seem to get healthy at the same time.
Dobbins is the latest to suffer an injury. He fractured his fibula and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
Coach Charles Ramsey said the injury probably occurred Nov. 24 against Southeast Missouri State, but his staff isn’t certain.
“They were talking about surgery, but fortunately a specialist came in and said surgery won’t be needed,” Ramsey said. “When you lose someone of that magnitude, and you’re able to win games and get your young kids some reps it’s a pretty good thing.”
Walking out of the locker room on crutches Saturday following the team’s 75-64 win over James Madison University, Dobbins seemed optimistic about his status.
“It’s just a little setback of an injury,” he said. “It’s already started to heal.”
Matt Balkema started in place of Dobbins on Saturday, and he contributed five points and six rebounds in 24 minutes.
“Matt did some good things,” Ramsey said. “I’ll take that out of a freshman any day of the week.”
Another hiatus before home stand
After having a week off before Saturday, the Eagles (6-3) will have another week off before their next game.
They’ll play Georgia State at 4 p.m. Saturday in Atlanta. Ramsey said the week off could help his team heal but hinted there may be some rust like there was against JMU.
“It was one of those things, we had a week off, we got bumps and bruises, they’re going into finals (exams),” Ramsey said Saturday. “You know, its tough for kids to maintain that type of focus.”
After the Georgia State game, EMU will have a three-game home stand starting with Samford on Dec. 22. Northwood (Mich.) and Chicago State are the other opponents.
“Three out of our next four are at home,” Ramsey said. “And if we can just win at home, and go be competitive on the road, we’ll be OK.”
