The Eastern Michigan men’s basketball coach Charles Ramsey doesn’t mind the annual BracketBuster game played at this time of the season.

The thing he doesn’t particularly enjoy is when EMU is scheduled to play against a nearby foe, in this instance the University of Detroit Mercy.

“I don’t think you see that with anyone else,” he said. “You know, it’s a rivalry game. You’ve got two schools who are 30 miles apart. We play this game in December – no problem – great game.

“Right now? It’s just tough. Because what it does, is it just throws off your focus and everything in that regard. [It’s m]uch more than a BracketBuster game, more things come into play with a game of this magnitude.

“You know, kids coming back home, playing against old teammates, playing against friends, buddies coaching against each other, you know you’ve got so many different things that, OK, you know versus if we had to play Eastern Nebraska or Idaho we would have just came out and played a game, you know, versus Detroit,” Ramsey said.

Medlock’s homecoming
Carlos Medlock seemed to play with a little extra hop in his step Saturday and it was easy to guess why. The senior guard is a Detroit native and played at Murray-Wright high school.

“I’m from like five, ten minutes away from here,” he said. “So, all my family, everybody came out and supported me like usual. It’s a great feeling coming home..”

Medlock averaged 20 points and five assists in his senior season at Murray-Wright and was selected third-team Class A All-State and second-team All-Metro by The Detroit News.

Dailey sees action
Quintin Dailey, who was recently suspended indefinitely for violating unspecified team rules, dressed and entered the game Saturday with 22 seconds left in the first.

“Coach’s decision,” Ramsey said of Dailey’s appearance. “I like the rotation that we have. It’s been good.

“Play is predicated off of practice. So, he comes and does some things, you know, he’ll get an opportunity.”

Dailey is averaging 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds this season, his first with the team after transferring from Sheridan (Wyo.) Community College.

Settling for singles
The men’s basketball Eagles seemed to have problems in their transition and fast break offense in the game, missing passes and several layups. Ramsey said he thinks his players are trying to do too much.

“We just didn’t make good decisions,” he said. “We had opportunities, and it’s called trying to overhang.

“We had numbers we work on it, just make the play that’s right in front of you. Nothing special. I call it ‘hit a single,’ we don’t need a home run, hit a single. Singles win you a lot of ball games. Too often we try and hit the home run.”

Bowdry keeps scoring pace
Brandon Bowdry continued his strong play on offense against Detroit on Saturday scoring 18 points and grabbing four rebounds.

“My teammates got me open shots and I just tried to knock them down,” he said. “I just tried to pull into them with confidence,” Bowdry said.

The junior forward has been playing particularly well lately, averaging 19 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his last six contests.