In the first round of the Mid American College Conference playoffs, the Eastern Michigan Eagles seeded 6 in the conference, rolled over the Kent State Golden Flashes, seeded 11, beating KSU 70-52.
The Eagles were paced by Cha Sweeney who led the team with 21 points.
Shooting only 26 percent in the first half, the Eagles struggled to make the shots fall. The game remained neck and neck with the score reaching a tie five times and switching the lead six.
Postgame, coach Tory Verdi credited the difficulty in the first half to missed layups, lack of communication and not playing together as a team. The Eagles walked in to the locker room trailing by just one with the scoreboard reading 27-28, Kent State.
The Eagles found their groove quickly in the after halftime. An impressive performance from the arc by senior Jamaica Bucknor early in the second half set the offensive tone for the Eagles who improved their field goal percentage to almost 57 percent in the second. Despite the Golden Flashes best efforts, they were only about to get the deficit down to 46-41 halfway through the second, but the Eagles continued to pull away.
The Eagles finished with a 18 point victory beating the Golden Flashes 70-52. In just the second half, the Eagles beat the Golden Flashes 24-43.
With this win, Eastern stands at 11-7 in the MAC and will advance to Cleveland to play the next round of the tournament. The Eagles are set to take on the Toledo Rockets at 2:30 p.m. this Wednesday, March 11. The Rockets are seeded 7 in the MAC and the record this season for EMU v. Toledo stands at 1-1.
