With the inconsistency at the point guard position all-season long, Mike Talley stepped up and led Eastern Michigan University to its first road win of the season 81-79 over Oakland University in overtime at the Athletics Center O’rena on Saturday.
Talley posted career-highs in points (21) and assists (9) along with no turnovers.
“I felt like I had to get my team involved today,” Talley said after the game on WEMU 89.1. “Every game, it is somebody different who has to make an impact and today was my day.”
Head coach Rob Murphy was most impressed by Talley’s ability to get his teammates involved on offense.
“(Mike) did a great job controlling the floor and he got people involved,” Murphy said. “We weren’t getting stops, but he continued to hit bucket after bucket.”
The Eagles move to 7-3 on the season, while the Golden Grizzlies fall to 3-10.
Despite fouling out with 32 seconds in regulation, Glenn Bryant added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, along with six rebounds.
Darell Combs contributed off the bench with 13 points.
Oakland’s Travis Bader led all scorers with 33, hitting 10-for-13 from three-point range.
The Eagles shot 31-of-67 (46.3 percent) from the field, while the Golden Grizzlies went 25-for-66 (37.9 percent).
Both teams struggled to find their shot in the early going as the first field goal was not made until the 16:32 mark when Bryant nailed a jump shot to even the game at two.
No one seized momentum for the rest of half as EMU went into the locker-room with a 29-28 advantage.
The second half would be more of the same as the game stood within single digits.
Duke Mondy’s pair of made free throws for Oakland evened the game at 70 and forced overtime.
The extra session continued to be a back and forth affair until the final possession when Bader missed a three-point attempt as time expired.
“We just wanted to focus on Bader (because) we knew he would take the shot,” Murphy said. “We had two guys on him, contested the shot and came up with the rebound.”
Game Notes:
This was the Eagles’ first overtime game since Feb. 1, 2012 when they fell to Miami University 62-57 on the road.
Oakland’s 10-game winning streak at the O’rena was snapped.
Attendance: 1507
Looking Ahead:
On Dec. 28, the Eagles travel to Durham, N.C., to take on the No. 8-ranked Duke University Blue Devils.
Duke (9-2) is coming off an 80-63 win over the University of California, Los Angeles at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 19.
6-foot-8 freshman Jabari Parker had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
Parker went 7-of-13 from the field, including going 4-for-8 from three-point range.
The Chicago native also went 5-of-5 at the free throw line and for the ninth time in 11 career college games, scored at least 20 points.
Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN2. Chad Bush will have the call on WEMU 89.1 FM.
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