After suffering a loss at the hands of Michigan State on Monday night, the Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team came back with force and defeated the Marygrove College Mustangs, 108-64, Wednesday afternoon.
In the first half, Marygrove kept up with the Eagles on both ends of the floor. The game was tied when EMU freshman James Thompson took over the game. Thompson, who so far has shown promise on the defensive end, would score 13 points in just the first seven minutes of the game. At the end of the first half, Thompson had 26 points and seven rebounds. He also shot 10-of-11 from the field in addition to a couple of assists. Thompson finished the game with 32 points and 13 rebounds.
“Going into the game, we wanted to make sure that we got the ball inside,” said EMU coach Rob Murphy. “I thought James made some good moves and some great finishes. It was good to see [James] do some more things offensively and it was good to see us not settling for shots.”
“I just wanted to capitalize on every time I touched the ball,” said Thompson. “We’ve emphasized [getting the ball inside] all year long so when I touched it, I just wanted to make sure I capitalized and went for every rebound.”
The Eagles would also see a strong performance from forward Brandon Nazione, who would finish with 17 points, nine rebounds, one assist and one steal. Willie Mangum would also finish with 17 points and three assists. Guard Ethan Alvano provided valuable minutes off the bench, scoring 13 points, dishing out four assists and recording three steals.
The Eagles scored this victory without starting guard Ty Toney, who sat out with a toe injury. Freshman LaMonta Stone was injured in the game when he took an apparent shot to the eye that required a few stitches. Both are expected to be back for the game on Saturday.
The Eagles will enjoy Thanksgiving before heading back out on the floor to get ready to host the Crusaders of Madonna University Saturday November 28 at the Convocation Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
