The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team traveled to play the Ball State University Cardinals, a conference foe. On Tuesday night, they lost in overtime by a score of 86-84.
The loss marks Eastern’s fourth consecutive in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play, a streak that began on January 25, when they beat Buffalo at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
Eastern Michigan is now 4-7 in MAC play. This past Saturday, they won against Old Dominion out of conference, so their overall losing streak is not five straight games.
It was a closely contested game right from the start. In the first 10 minutes, the Cardinals took a 21-13 lead over EMU, which they achieved by scoring on three consecutive possessions.
Both teams evenly contested the last 10 minutes of the half. Ball State went into the locker room with a 40-33 advantage. Eastern Michigan took a one-point lead, 33-32, with 2:29 to play. But because Ball State went up by seven at the half, they scored the final eight points on the Eagles.
After the break, EMU came out strong, scoring eight of the first ten points of the half to cut the deficit to one point. Following this sequence, Ball State went back up by six, before Eastern Michigan went back up 54-53 to lead with 10:19 to go, putting the Eagles within reach of Ball State toward possibly getting their fifth win in MAC play.
The following five minutes were even, as the Eagles still held the lead 63-62 over Ball State. With 1:59 to play, the game was tied at 72, and Jalen Terry from Flint, Michigan, made a jump shot to turn things up. Ball State turned the ball over, and Terry only capitalized on one free throw to give the Eagles a one-point, 73-72 advantage.
After Ball State made a shot to take the lead, the Eagles and Cardinals both failed to score on their next possessions. With 24 seconds to play, Christian Henry from Chicago, Illinois, made a shot to give the Eagles the lead, 75-74, with 20 seconds to play. After both teams called a timeout, Ball State could draw a foul and get free throw shots, one of which they made and one in which they missed. EMU again called a timeout, and Henry missed a decent look to win it, forcing the game to go to overtime.
Overtime was back-and-forth, and the game was in the grasp of both teams for five minutes. After Ball State took a three-point lead in the first 1:50 of overtime, the Eagles increased their lead to 81-80. Eastern Michigan led 84-82 with 1:19 to play after Henry scored a basket, and Jalin Billingsley from Cleveland, Ohio, made one out of two from the line to put the Eagles up by two.
This would be the last time Eastern Michigan would score. BSU made two free throws after Yusuf Jihad committed a foul from Farmington Hills, Michigan, to tie the score. The Eagles called a timeout, but Jermahri Hill of Ball State connected on a layup, and Henry missed a three-point attempt as the Eagles dropped their seventh MAC game of 2024-25.
The Eagles were led on offense by a large part of three players: Terry, Henry and Da’Sean Nelson from Toledo, Ohio, who had 25, 18, and 17 points to lead the squad. The game was the second this year that extra basketball was used to decide the winner, in which Eastern Michigan lost the other one 98-89 against Detroit Mercy, November 30.
Nelson also recorded eight assists for Eastern Michigan, which was a season high for the Toledo native, and he led the team. Henry and Terry each notched three steals for Eastern Michigan to lead the team on defense.
The Eagles won the rebounding battle 25-24 and forced 15 turnovers. This is tied for second, also in a game against Kent State, for the most turnovers they have forced this season. They forced 20 turnovers in a game against Buffalo, which was coincidentally their last win.
Road to Cleveland:
After tonight’s result, Eastern Michigan is now 4-7 in MAC play and falls to ninth place in the standings. Outside the top eight line to make the MAC Tournament, they trail Central Michigan and Western Michigan in the tiebreaker category, who are also 4-7 in league play.
Next, Eastern Michigan returns to Ypsilanti, where it will begin a two-game homestand against the University of Toledo Rockets on Saturday, February 15. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. It can also be listened to on WEMU 89.1 FM.
For more information on the Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball program, visit The Echo’s website.
