Welcome to Ypsilanti, Mohammad Habhab.
The redshirt freshman transfer product from Dearborn shone in his debut for the Eastern Michigan men’s basketball team at the George Gervin GameAbove Center — collecting 15 points, 16 rebounds and a 71-49 victory for the home team against Georgia State to open the 2025-26 season.
“Even though he’s a young player, I think he’s going to be a very impactful guy,” said Stan Heath, Eagles head coach, when asked about the former Central Michigan big man during the preseason.
Heath’s words immediately rang true on Nov. 3; with Habhab becoming the first Eagle to post 15+ points and 15+ rebounds since James Thompson IV did so against Ball State in March of 2019.
“I think our guys know, like, hey, if we go to him, something good is going to happen,” Heath said in a post game interview with ESPN+ on Habhab’s standout performance.
Carlos Hart, the Valdosta State transfer also making his Eagles debut, nearly put a double-double of his own on the stat sheet — 14 points and eight rebounds headlining the new No. 2’s first action in green and white.
In just 13 minutes of action off the bench, Mak Manciel provided a valuable spark to Eastern Michigan’s offense when he saw the floor. Shooting over 50% from the field and ⅔ from downtown, Manciel added 12 points and five rebounds to the home team’s tally, while Addison Patterson tacked on an additional 10 points and six rebounds of his own.
While Georgia State provided a fight to the Eagles in the early going, leading 14-11 with 12 minutes remaining in the first half, a subsequent 19-4 run from Eastern Michigan was enough for the Mid-American Conference school to take firm control of the contest for the remainder of the action.
The Eagles’ 14-0 run deep into the second half was enough for the green and white to firmly put the game out of reach, posting a 22 point margin of victory to open the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.
With the win, Eastern Michigan opens the new campaign at 1-0, while Georgia State falls to 0-1.
"Protecting our home is a big deal for us,” Heath said.
“If [we] want to have success in the season — win the home games, beat the teams you're supposed to beat — we're probably going to be in a good position,” he added.
Next time out, Eastern Michigan will return to action on Monday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. for a litmus test against "Power 4" opponent University of Pittsburgh. Viewers can stream the game live on ACC Network Extra.
