The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team ran across a horrific loss after competing against the University of Toledo. With a final score of 84-60, the Eagles stood no chance against the Rockets, as they maintained a lead over the Eagles the entire game.
The Eagles got a slow start in the first half, as the Rockets took an 11-2 lead with 17 minutes remaining. Eventually the Eagles cut the Rockets lead to four points (14-10), as they went on a 6-0 run with 15 minutes left in the half.
Unfortunately, Eastern could not maintain to cut the four-point trail as Toledo extended their lead to 15 points later in the half, with a score of 38-23. The Rockets continued to manage their 15-point lead, ending the half with a score of 40-25.
“We came out and didn’t get a few stops, so we were down early,” said Head Coach, Rob Murphy. “I thought we fought back in the first half to get their lead to five and then we had a couple [senseless] turnovers; they [Toledo] got up 11, and it was a fight from there.”
The Eagles ended the half with eight turnovers compared to Toledo’s five and shot 34.5 percent from the field while Toledo outscored them with 55.2 percent.
Mike Talley (G) ended the first half with 10 points while Raven Lee (G) added seven to the team’s 25 at the half. Brandon Nazione (F) scored two points and grabbed four of the team’s 17 rebounds in the half.
As the second half began, the Eagles worked hard to cut the Rockets 15 point lead to as close as 9 points (46-37), going on a 4-0 run, while Lee scored six straight points for the team with less than 14 minutes remaining in the game.
After a few possessions of both teams trading buckets, the Eagles once again found hardship in catching a lead as they only shot 1-of-11 with 8 minutes remaining on the clock.
The Rockets stretched their nine-point lead to as far as 32 points, going on a 14-0 run against the Eagles with a little over five minutes remaining. Eventually the Rockets ended the game with a blow out win.
“I give them [Toledo] a lot of credit. They played hard, they made shots, so they were the better team tonight,” Murphy said. “For us, we just have to go back to the drawing board. We have another game here on Saturday, so we must move forward and look forward to correct these mistakes and not allow it to happen again on Saturday.”
Mike Talley ended the game with 18 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the floor, while Raven Lee added 15, shooting 4-of-14 and 6-of-7 from behind the free-throw line.
Freshman guard, Tim Bond, dropped two impressive dunks and scored his 10 points all in the scored half; Karrington Ward (F) added six points to the score, while Brandon Nazione grabbed a total of seven rebounds during the game.
Overall, Eastern averaged 39.3 percent from the field, 10.5 percent from behind the arc, and 71.3 percent from behind the free-throw line.
The Eagles hold an overall record of 14-8 in the season and a 3-6 record in the MAC.
On Saturday Feb. 7, the Eagles head back to Ohio as they face the Ohio University Bobcats once again. Tip-off begins at 2 p.m in Athens, Ohio in the OU Convocation Center.
