The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team (4-14, 1-4 MAC) played host to the Kent State Golden Flashes (15-3, 5-0 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 17 for the teams’ first meeting of the season. Despite three Eagles earning double-digit points, the team fell 63-77 inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
After losing to Akron University (12-6, 4-1 MAC) on Friday, Jan. 13, this extended a three-game losing streak for the home team and in turn, gave the Golden Flashes their ninth straight win.
With 24 points and six rebounds, sophomore Emoni Bates led the team in scoring. He was followed by fellow sophomores Tyson Acuff with 12 points and Yusuf Jihad with 11 points.
The Eagles saw their first and only lead of the game with 3:44 to go in the first half, following an eight-point run to go up 28-27. However, by halftime, the Golden Flashes were back in front, 38-33.
To start the second half, Kent State started to run away with it as they extended their lead to 61-46 before EMU would go on a 6-0 run to give them hope and put the score at 61-52 with 6:07 left to play. The Eagles couldn’t quite fight back though as Kent State remained with their advantage the rest of the way to defeat EMU, 77-63.
The Eagles next host the Northern Illinois University Huskies for an Eastern Michigan basketball double-header with the women’s team tipping off at 1 p.m. against NIU and the men at 3:30 p.m. For the most recent information on Eastern Michigan basketball, tune in to The Echo’s weekly podcast “TheBlockE Podcast."
