The Eastern Michigan men’s basketball team’s roller coaster 2024-25 campaign continued on Tuesday evening. After winning three straight in conference play and firmly entrenching themselves as MAC tournament contenders, the Eagles have now lost their third straight, falling 70-49 at home to Kent State.
Eastern Michigan started the game off ice cold, missing their opening seven shots and trailing the Golden Flashes 15-2 just over six minutes into the contest.
While the Eagles were able to gradually dig their way out of the hole and eventually cut Kent State’s lead down to three in the second half, their shooting woes persisted, and the Golden Flashes went on a 25-8 run down the stretch to pull away and bury the home team.
“I don’t think it’s rocket science—you have opportunities to make a shot, make a layup, make a free throw, make a pass—you have to execute,” Eagles head coach Stan Heath said when asked about his team’s offensive woes as of late.
This game marked the second straight outing in which Eastern Michigan failed to score over 55 points, a stark contrast from their previous three contests, in which they had scored 80 or more points.
The Eagles shot 28.3% (17/60) from the floor as a team on the night, one of their worst shooting performances. They also shot 26.3% (6/23) from three-point range.
Three players from the squad managed to reach double figures: Christian Henry (Chicago, Illinois/The Skill Factory/Panola College) for the 10th consecutive game, Jalen Terry (Flint, Michigan/Beecher/Oregon/DePaul), and Yusuf Jihad (Farmington Hills, Michigan/North Farmington/Oakland) all led the team with 10 points apiece.
Next week, Eastern Michigan hopes to snap their losing skid with their final non-conference home matchup of the season: a date with Sun Belt foe Old Dominion on Saturday at 2 p.m. Viewers can stream the game live on ESPN+.
