A white-out night in Ypsilanti gone bad as the men's basketball team of Eastern Michigan University faced the University of Akron, who's currently atop of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
EMU dropped a 77-46 point game to the MAC-leading basketball team. Akron started the game strongly in the first half, securing a dominant 42-23 lead as they headed into the locker room. The Zips widened their lead to 32 points, reaching a score of 74-42 with 2:18 left in the game to cruise to a dominating win.
“You have to just throw this one out," head coach Stan Heath said in a radio interview after the heartbreaking loss. “They just outplayed us, they’re good, we weren’t very good."
EMU's overall record shifted to 9-12, with a conference play record of 2-7, whereas Akron's overall standing became 16-5, with an impressive 8-1 record in the MAC.
In terms of shooting percentages, the Eagles finished with an 18-of-50 (36.0%) clip from the field and a 2-of-19 (10.5%) performance from the three-point range. On the other hand, Akron showcased a 32-of-64 (50.0%) accuracy from the field and a 6-of-25 (24.0%) proficiency from beyond the arc.
“We made too many mistakes. First half we made some sloppy turnovers, just careless, and kind of dug a hole for us.” Heath said, “I thought in the second half we were fighting a little bit.” He goes on to say after a while the game got tough for the Eagles and weren’t able to shoot as well as they would have liked.
Junior guard Tyson Acuff (Detroit, Mich.) led the team with 12 points, extending his impressive streak to 23 consecutive games with at least 11 points. With a total of 851 points as an Eagle, Acuff now holds the 47th position in EMU history, surpassing John Bowler (2005-06).
Acuff sets a new record for the most consecutive games with at least 10 points by an EMU player since 2000.
Next up, the Eagles are set to journey to Northern Illinois University on Saturday, Feb. 3, with a scheduled tip-off at 4 p.m. ET inside the NIU Convocation Center.
