The troubles for the Eastern Michigan men's basketball team continued Saturday as they lost to the Western Michigan University Broncos, 94-86, in Kalamazoo.
Ty Toney was the leading scorer for the Eagles, scoring a career high 23 points. James Thompson recorded his third consecutive double-double.
“Anytime you have to claw back into a game it’s going to be tough,” EMU coach Rob Murphy said.
The Eagles continued to struggle in the beginning, with James Thompson getting two fouls in the first three minutes. This allowed the Broncos to make it 7-2 but the Eagles quickly worked to tie it up 7-7 with fourteen minutes left. Western Michigan opened up a lead and maintained it the rest of the first half, leading by as much as sixteen. Western Michigan went into halftime leading by seventeen.
“I thought the difference in the game was in the first half. They went on a 9-2 run to close the half and put themselves up seventeen," Murphy said.
The Broncos kept their defense, leading by fifteen with eleven minutes to go in the second half. The Eagles, however, would become a completely different team in the second half. The Eagles went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to nine with seven minutes but hot shooting from Western Michigan’s Thomas Wilder would keep the Eagles at bay as the Broncos cruised to an eight point victory.
“This is a tough conference and it’s not easy; and it’s not going to get any easier as we move forward. So we just have to buckle down and continue working," Murphy said.
The Eagles will hope to break their losing streak as they host Miami (OH) on Tuesday at the Convocation Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
