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Football:

The Eastern Michigan football team won a surprise victory last Saturday against Western Michigan University, 53-42. The Eagles’ team was reinvigorated by the addition of freshman running back Darius Boone Jr. returning since week one to start this game. Boone rushed for 148 yards and one touchdown; this is the first Eagle besides Preston Hutchinson to rush for over 100 yards. 

Boone gave the already potent Eagles offense another edge, which allowed them to outscore the Broncos. WMU was ranked as the best team in the MAC going into this game with a 4-0 record. 

Hutchinson had his most efficient game, throwing for 315 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, a huge achievement for him. 

The Eagles didn’t turn the ball over once during the game, while WMU gave up the ball three times in total. 

The Eagles will play Northern Illinois University this Saturday, Dec. 12 at 12 p.m. you can stream the game on ESPN3.

Men’s basketball:

The fight song and familiar basketball sounds echoed throughout an uncharacteristically quiet Convocation Center last Friday as the Eagles fell in their home opener to Toledo, 74-91. Thomas Binelli, senior forward, did not play for an undisclosed reason. 

Toledo brought the heat from deep, shooting proficiently (35%) from beyond the arc. The Eagles weren’t able to compete with their scoring, suffering from inefficient guard play and an untimely pulled muscle in junior guard Bryce Mcbride’s thigh that derailed all momentum the team had. 

The team had only been practicing with seven players from their 14-man roster the past two weeks, which contributed to the team’s rusty performance. The Eagles shooting woes continued, shooting 29% from beyond the arc and 42% from the field. 

The next game for the men’s basketball team will be Wednesday, Dec. 9 against Adrian at 7 p.m.

Women’s Basketball:

The EMU women’s basketball team easily dispatched Southeastern Missouri State Dec. 6 with a score of 63-49. The surprise of the game was Kylee O’hara, junior forward who came off the bench and shot an impressive 4-6 from three.

The Eagles are coming off of a 16-15 season with a promising run in the MAC tournament cut short by COVID. This season the Eagles are looking to build off that success with their talented players. 

Sophomore Ce’Nara Skanes has started the season strong, averaging 20.3 points playing at forward. Skanes has injected offense into a team that was heavily reliant on Areanna Combs for their scoring last season. Combs has averaged 21 points per game with a strong performance against Ball State last Wednesday. This came off a lackluster performance against UIC, which is the team’s lone loss. 

The team’s next game will be against Bowling Green Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. which can be streamed on ESPN+.

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