Just outside of his post-game news conference Eastern Michigan coach Charles Ramsey stood, his back against a wall staring blankly and attempting to come to grips with what had just happened.
His team just let the men’s Mid-American Conference West division title slip out of its grasp losing, 56-55, to Central Michigan Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
“I have kids in there crying their eyes out, I got kids in there crying, who I didn’t know cried.” Ramsey said.
What could have been one of the more important wins at home for the Eagles, instead turned into a devastating loss.
“It hurts us,” Dobbins said. “We worked so hard all season, for us to come up short, it’s like things just went downhill.
“It doesn’t feel real, it doesn’t feel like it happened. It feels like right now we’re at half time or something”
Missed free throws, blown assignments on defense and a missed buzzer beater doomed Eastern Michigan in the final seconds of the game.
Up by three with 2:11 left on the clock, Eastern let Central back into the game by allowing CMU’s Robbie Harmon to drop a crucial 3-pointer that tied the game with 1:17 remaining. Then with 44 left Jalin Thomas sunk the game winning free throw.
“The last one was disappointing cause it was a missed assignment,” Ramsey said. “Good players make plays, and he made the play”
The loss means the Eagles fall to the No. 6 seed in the MAC tournament and draw Nothern Illinois as their first round opponent.
The game will be 2 p.m. Sunday at the Convocation Center.
