The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team opened its Mid-American Conference schedule with a 71-48 win over the University of Toledo on Saturday night in Ohio.
The victory is the second in a row for the Eagles and makes them 4-10 overall. The Rockets lost their third game in a row and are 0-1 in the MAC and 3-12 overall.
Brandon Bowdry recorded the 32nd double-double of his career at EMU, posting a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Darrell Lampley had a game-high six assists.
The first basket of the game was a long Lampley three-pointer off an assist from Antonio Green. The Eagles built an early 7-2 lead before the Rockets fought back to even the score at 12 from a Malcolm Griffin free throw at the 10:41 mark.
The teams traded a few baskets, but it wasn’t long before the Eagles opened lead to 24-19 on another three-point basket by Lampley with 4:30 left to play in the first half.
The Eagles pushed their lead to nine points from their fifth three-point basket of the first half at the 1:50 mark. As time expired, Bowdry tipped in a missed three-point attempt to give the Eagles a 33-26 halftime lead. Bowdry had eight points and eight rebounds for the Eagles at the half. Griffin led the Rockets with 10.
Griffin had 14 points for Toledo and freshmen Reese Holliday had his third double-double this season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
The Eagles shot 39.3 percent from the field while holding the Rockets to 36 percent shooting. EMU also had a 45-31 rebounding advantage and outscored Toledo’s bench 26-9.
The Eagles started the second half with a three-point basket, much like they did to start the game. Only this time, it was Derek Thompson connecting. Eastern quickly pushed its lead to 41-28, within the first minute of the second half.
A three-point basket by Anthony Wright of Toledo would cut the deficit to seven, 42-35, with 15:02 left, but it was all Eagles after that. Three pointers helped the Eagles close the game on a 29-13 run.
The Eagles made 9-of-28 three-pointers on the night, and were 14-of-19 from the line. They made 12-of-15 free throws in the second half.
EMU will return home to host MAC West Division rival Northern Illinois University (4-9, ) 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
