While Eastern Michigan University students might have been hitting the slopes or gaining some much needed rest, the men’s basketball team was hard at work.
Here’s a look back at what students might have missed while on winter break:
Dec. 20 the Eagles traveled to Virginia to defeat Radford Highlanders 52-48. The two teams went back and forth trading leads and eventually went into halftime tied at 21.
Strong shooting in the second half by the Eagles led them to the victory.
Senior guard Quintin Dailey scored a career-high 13 points, shooting 3-for-4 behind the three-point line. Perhaps the biggest story of the game was the debut of 7-foot center Da’Shonte Riley, who was playing his first game as an Eagle after transferring from Syracuse University, following in the footsteps of Coach Rob Murphy. Riley finished with eight points and four rebounds.
Dec. 22, Virginia Tech beat the Eagles 71-50. It was a story of two entirely different halves for the Eagles in this contest. The Eagle offense was poor in the first half, scoring just nine points on 3-for-21 shooting. The second half, however, the Eagles scored 41 points, shooting 13-for-36. Senior guards Darrell Lampley and Antonio Green finished with 13 points. Lampley, who continues to have a strong senior season, just missed his season scoring average of 14.4.
Dec. 29, the Eagles lost 75-55 to Santa Clara. The Eagles traveled to Santa Barbara, Calif. to compete in the Cable Car Classic, but ran into trouble during their first game of the tournament. EMU came out of the gates slowly and never held a lead in the game. Lampley again led the Eagles, scoring 14 points. Redshirt sophomore J.R. Sims added 10 points.
Dec. 30 was the Eagles second contest of the Cable Car Classic and they lost 42-37 against Air Force. This game turned out to be a defensive one. The teams displayed strong zone defense, which seemed stifling to the patient and conservative offenses of the teams. Down eight with 3:27 to go, the Eagles made a comeback effort, but eventually fell to the Falcons. EMU was led by Green’s 9-point, 8-rebound effort.
Jan. 7 the Eagles snapped a brief three-game losing streak by beating Northern Illinois 47-40 in the first game of Mid-American Conference play. After trailing at the half, 23-26, the Eagles fought back and held a slight 41-40 lead with 2:23 remaining in the game – that’s when Lampley took over. The senior was sent to the free throw line three times in the remaining minutes and hit six consecutive free throws. He finished with 16 points.
The Eagles (6-9, 1-0 MAC) will prepare for their first home game since Nov. 27. They take on in-state rival Central Michigan (6-8, 1-0 MAC) at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside the Convocation Center.
