An eight-point halftime lead slipped away as Eastern Michigan University fell to Miami University, 65-61 at Millett Hall on Saturday.
With the loss, EMU falls to 12-9 and 4-4 in the Mid-American Conference, but coach Rob Murphy looks at things from a different perspective.
“We have to keep working hard because it’s a long season and there is no time to look backwards, but forwards,” Murphy said on emueagles.com after the game.
Raven Lee led the Eagles with 18 points, which is the most he has put up since the Green Bay game on Dec. 10 (17).
Karrington Ward chipped in with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 2-for-4 from three-point range.
For Miami (9-10, 5-3 MAC), Will Sullivan went 5-of-6 from long range on the way to a game-high 19 points.
Will Felder, who had 17 points and 15 rebounds, made the game-winning shot with 25 seconds left in regulation.
As a team, EMU shot 21-of-55 (38.2 percent), while Miami did not fare much better going 22-for-51 (43.1 percent).
The Eagles began the game scoring the first seven, forcing RedHawks coach John Cooper to call timeout.
EMU’s lead would expand to 13-4 at the 14-minute mark and would control the momentum for the rest of the first half as they went into the locker room with a 30-22 advantage.
Miami started the second half on a 12-5 run to cut the deficit to a single point.
Both teams exchanged leads for most of the second half until a jumper from the elbow by Felder with under a minute left put the RedHawks ahead for good.
Game Notes:
Attendance: 1038
The Eagles have now dropped three out of their last four games.
J.R. Sims (Academic Issue) sat out for the eighth consecutive game.
Looking Ahead:
On Feb. 5, the Eagles will look for revenge as they travel to Akron, Ohio, to take on the University of Akron Zips at James A. Rhodes Arena.
In the teams’ last meeting on Jan. 22, EMU fell to Akron 78-68 at the Convocation Center.
Jake Kretzer scored a career-high 25 on 9-of-18 shooting and 7-for-12 from the field for Akron.
The Zips’ leading scorer and rebounder Demetrius Treadwell produced a double-double with 18 and 11, respectively.
Karrington Ward led EMU with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 3-for-6 from three-point range and 3-of-4 on free throws.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. as Chad Bush and Sean Hostetter will have the call on WEMU 89.1 FM.
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