Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, December 16
Long Beach, Calif.
4 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
8-2
85
at
80
Long Beach State
5-8
1
2
F
Eastern Michigan
38
47
85
Long Beach State
37
43
80
EMU Pulls Out Exciting 85-80 Win at Long Beach State
12/16/2017 10:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Elijah Minnie scored 23 and James Thompson IV registered his ninth double-double of the season
LONG BEACH, Calif. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team rallied from nine down for an exciting 85-80 road victory at Long Beach State University Saturday, Dec. 16 at the Walter Pyramid.
The game had 11 lead changes and 10 ties in a thrilling 40 minutes of action, as the Eagles (8-2) withstood a fast and furious final charge from the 49ers (5-8) to pull out the victory. Eastern is off to its best start to a season in the Rob Murphy era since the 2014-15 campaign when it started 11-2.
Four players finished in double-figures for the Eagles, as Elijah Minnie (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Lincoln Park (Robert Morris) led the team with 23 points. Junior James Thompson IV (Baton Rouge, La.-Parkview Baptist) dominated the inside game with 19 points and 11 rebounds, registering his ninth double-double this season, while Paul Jackson (Stone Mountain, Ga.-Martin Luther King Jr. (Eastern Kentucky)) tossed in 18 and had a season-high seven assists. Freshman Kevin McAdoo (West Bloomfield, Mich.-West Bloomfield) tied a career-high with 10 points off the bench.
Trailing by nine late in the first half, Eastern used a 7-0 run to close the gap and took a one point lead into the half thanks to a Minnie triple in the waning moments. With the win, the Eagles moved to 6-0 on the season when leading at the break.
EMU controlled play in the second half, leading for 17:03 of the 20 minutes. The Eagles built a lead to as many as eight points in the second stanza, but the 49ers would not go away, eventually trimming the deficit to just three points. Senior Tim Bond (Baltimore, Md.-City College) put the game out of reach with an electrifying reverse dunk to give the Green and White an 85-80 victory.
The Eagles made a season-best 11 three-pointers (11-of-23, .478) and forced the Beach into 13 turnovers. Though they were narrowly out-rebounded (31-32), EMU made up for it by winning the points in the paint (40-28), and converted 20 points off turnovers compared to LBSU's four.
Eastern Michigan continues its three-game road swing with a stop in nearby Rochester, Mich. to take on Oakland University, Friday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.
The game had 11 lead changes and 10 ties in a thrilling 40 minutes of action, as the Eagles (8-2) withstood a fast and furious final charge from the 49ers (5-8) to pull out the victory. Eastern is off to its best start to a season in the Rob Murphy era since the 2014-15 campaign when it started 11-2.
Four players finished in double-figures for the Eagles, as Elijah Minnie (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Lincoln Park (Robert Morris) led the team with 23 points. Junior James Thompson IV (Baton Rouge, La.-Parkview Baptist) dominated the inside game with 19 points and 11 rebounds, registering his ninth double-double this season, while Paul Jackson (Stone Mountain, Ga.-Martin Luther King Jr. (Eastern Kentucky)) tossed in 18 and had a season-high seven assists. Freshman Kevin McAdoo (West Bloomfield, Mich.-West Bloomfield) tied a career-high with 10 points off the bench.
Trailing by nine late in the first half, Eastern used a 7-0 run to close the gap and took a one point lead into the half thanks to a Minnie triple in the waning moments. With the win, the Eagles moved to 6-0 on the season when leading at the break.
EMU controlled play in the second half, leading for 17:03 of the 20 minutes. The Eagles built a lead to as many as eight points in the second stanza, but the 49ers would not go away, eventually trimming the deficit to just three points. Senior Tim Bond (Baltimore, Md.-City College) put the game out of reach with an electrifying reverse dunk to give the Green and White an 85-80 victory.
The Eagles made a season-best 11 three-pointers (11-of-23, .478) and forced the Beach into 13 turnovers. Though they were narrowly out-rebounded (31-32), EMU made up for it by winning the points in the paint (40-28), and converted 20 points off turnovers compared to LBSU's four.
Eastern Michigan continues its three-game road swing with a stop in nearby Rochester, Mich. to take on Oakland University, Friday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
EMU
LBSU
FG%
.524
.482
3FG%
.478
.500
FT%
.800
.789
RB
31
32
TO
12
13
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
19
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF/C
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