EMU falls to Ball State in Heart Breaking Finish

    The Eagles came into the game looking to win the MAC conference opener. Eastern is trying to win another MAC West Championship, but to start the conference they can't pull off a close win. The final score was 60-58 on 2 late free throws from Ball State.

     Ball State came out in this game shooting very well. They would get offensive rebounds and be able to score. The Cardinals also had no problem shooting the 3 in the first half, taking shots from way beyond the 3 point line. Ball State shot 58% in this game, the highest percentage shooting Eastern Michigan has seen all year. Even higher then Kentucky and Michigan who were at 52-53% shooting.

     Eastern came out knowing that they couldn't turn the ball over as much as they usually do to win this game. Well EMU turned the ball over 11 times compared to their average which is usually around 19 or 20. The Eagles had many problems getting rebounds in this one, Ball State had so many chances with 27 rebounds and 6 of them on offense. The Eagles had 16 rebounds all game.

     Eastern had some chances to win the game, mostly from the free throw line. 12 for 19 from the free throw line is not a good percentage to have in a close game like this. Also EMU has to hang onto the ball, we can't throw the ball away. Late in the game Ball State was able to move the ball down the floor and get under the basket to attempt a shot, but was fouled with 0.6 seconds left to give the Cardinals 2 free throws, which they made both. EMU had one last attempt but weren't able to get a shot off.

      Derek Thompson led the team with 16 points, Sims had 12 and a good performance out of him, and Harrison with 9 points. Eastern struggled from behind the arc going 4-14 from 3. 2 of those three's were from Thompson.

     It was a very close game that EMU had to make a few small comebacks to get into the game. Ball State's hot shooting was hard to stop, but EMU didn't shoot all that bad either. Eastern shot a good 51% most of them 2 pointers.

    Eastern will head off to Bowling Green for their next game. EMU goes to 7-8 on the season, 0-1 in the MAC.