The Eastern Michigan University mens’ basketball team (10-20, 5-14 Mid-American Conference) was defeated by Western Michigan University (8-22, 4-15 Mid-American Conference), 71-60, at home on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
It was also senior night inside the George, where seniors Monty Scott, Darion Spotsville, Nate Scott, Thomas Binelli, and Axel Okongo were honored for their contributions to the EMU mens’ basketball program.
After falling behind 11-5, early in the first half, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run to take a tight 13-11 lead with a little over 13 minutes left. EMU would stay hot as they went on a 7-1 run, led by freshman point guard Noah Farrakhan, to stretch the lead to 20-12. The Eagles finished the half up 26-24, as they scored 16 of their 26 in the paint, and only held the Broncos to 6 points in the paint.
After intermission, WMU came out scoring quickly, as they put up five of the first seven points to regain a 29-28 lead with 17:45 to go. As the Broncos held a 46-44 advantage with 12 minutes left in the half, EMU would go on an 8-0 run, finished off by a three-pointer from freshman Kevin-David Rice with 10 minutes left to play. The Broncos would regain control of the game, as they went on a 25-8 run to close out the matchup and win 71-60.
Western Michigan’s Lamar Norman made eight three-pointers for WMU. That is tied for the second-most threes in a single game inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center
Offensively the Eagles’ bench made their presence felt, as they contributed 35 points that were led by Rice, who scored a team-high 12 points. Freshman Luka Savicevic put up 10 points off the bench, and Monty Scott added in 10 as well.
Defensively the Eagles outrebounded WMU, 37-34, as senior Darion Spotsville grabbed 10 rebounds. The struggles came in the second half, where EMU gave up 47 points. This was the second-consecutive game where the Eagles allowed 40-plus points.
Head Coach Stan Heath shared his overall thoughts about the game in a postgame interview held by EMUAthletics:
“It was good seeing younger guys, like Kevin Rice and Luka, step up,” coach Heath said. “We didn’t have enough and I thought it was more defense than offense, especially when Norman got hot. It was hard to stop him,” Heath added.
Coach Heath also shared his thoughts on honoring the seniors for senior night:
“That was a good moment,” coach Heath said. “That’s where my heart breaks, I would've loved those guys to play their last game here with a win,” Heath added.
The EMU mens’ basketball team will travel to Ohio to wrap up their regular season against Miami University on Friday, March 4, 2022. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be listened to on WEMU (89.1 FM).
For more information on the EMU mens’ basketball team, you can visit EMUEagles.com.
