Men's Basketball: Colonels pick up back-to-back wins
Jonathan Stark
Issue date: 12/11/08 Section: Sports
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Tuesday night's game played out more like a shoot-around than an actual game.
With a 10-5 lead about four minutes in, Eastern went on a 14-0 run over the next six minutes to take a commanding 24-8 lead. During that stretch, five different players scored for the Colonels.
Another run put Eastern up by 27 with 1:49 left to go in the first half. J.R. Avery of Covenant hit a 45-footer at the buzzer to cut it to 49-26 at the break.
"We played more aggressively on the ball and tried pressure and get turnovers," Mike Rose said of the team's defense Tuesday night.
Eastern's rebounding, which has been an issue most of the season, was in full force Tuesday as the Colonels pulled down 30 boards in the first half, 14 offensive. Every Eastern player who played had at least one rebound.
Mike Rose led all scorers with 19 at the half.
The second half went much the same way as the first.
Small runs allowed the Colonels to push the lead into the 30s. Eastern's bench was getting a lot of minutes and putting up good stats. Jorge Camacho scored 10 points and got eight rebounds in only 12 minutes on the court.
"His effort to the offensive glass was super," head coach Jeff Neubauer said. "It was good to see him shoot it in. Jorge continues to improve, and we're very pleased with him."
Rose continued to score at will. He finished with a career-high 33 points.
"It was a good night for me," Rose said. "My teammates did a good job finding me, and I was able to create for myself a little bit."
Eastern's largest lead was 44 with 1:43 to go in the game. The Colonels would go on to win 93-50.
When the final buzzer went off, every Colonel had scored at least two points and pulled down a rebound.
"We did have contributions from a lot of guys," Neubauer said. "We do hope to be an unselfish team."
Cordaro Ellis got his rebound on the final shot of the game.
The Colonels had fewer than 10 turnovers for the second game in a row.
"The more we keep the ball from being turned over, the less transition points the other team can get," Rose said.
Eastern also rebounded much better tonight-it out-rebounded Covenant 51-28.
Papa Oppong finished with 13 points and five rebounds.
Coach Neubauer elected to not play Justin Stommes (ankle) and Ryan Wiersma (bruised thigh).
Eastern is now 6-3, 1-1 in the OVC. Covenant College will stay at 1-10, as this game counted as an exhibition for the Scots.
EKU 78 - UTM 75
UT Martin fans probably still had the bad taste of losing out on the OVC Football Championship to Eastern back on Nov. 22. Their players were probably looking for a little revenge Saturday when they traveled to Eastern.
The Skyhawks (2-5, 0-2 OVC) feature one of the best players in the league in Lester Hudson. He was 2007 OVC Player of the Year and is an NBA prospect in some people minds.
But once on the court, Marquis Weddle almost over-shadowed Hudson's performance in the first half.
The game was close throughout the first half. Eastern took the lead early after a three by Mike Lewis. Josh Taylor came off the bench for Eastern and hit his first three shots, including two threes.
The Skyhawks hung around the whole time. With less than four minutes to go, Weddle hit a three to give UT Martin the lead. Weddle shot 5-7 in the first half, scoring 13 points.
At halftime, Eastern had a thin lead at 38-37.
Two minutes into the second half with Eastern down one, Justin Stommes saw an open lane and took advantage. He drove and threw down a crowd-raising dunk.
"It seemed like that was a big energy boost for us," Mike Rose said. "It got the crowd and everyone else on the floor in it as well. That brought our defense intensity, I think."
From there, the Colonels went on a 10-0 run, and with 15:32 remaining, Eastern led by 11, 52-41.
Eastern was able to sustain the lead through the rest of the game. They were given a scare in the final minute when the Skyhawks closed the lead to just two, 75-73. Rose hit three free throws in the final 20 seconds to sneak away with a 78-75 victory.
"Our defense was not as good as what we've given in the first seven games," Neubauer said. "We don't want to give up 75 points-that's not who we are."
Hudson would finish with a team-high 22 points and seven boards.
"We really respect Lester Hudson," Neubauer said. "We understand that he is a tremendous offensive player. You can do a very good job guarding him and he still makes shots."
Rose was the standout player of this game, though, as he scored 24 and pulled down 11 rebounds-his third career double-double and the team's first double-double of the season.
Neubauer credited Rose's bounce-back from the game before to how Rose has grown during his time at Eastern. Neubauer said the team had an early shootaround Saturday. Neubauer returned to the gym an hour so after dismissing the team, and he found Rose still there, shooting.
EKU 50 - MSU 58
Regarded as one of the best teams-if not the best-in the OVC, the Colonels knew they would have their hands full going up against Murray State (5-2, 1-1 OVC) Thursday, Dec. 4.
Earlier in the season, the Racers had defeated Western Kentucky, who beat Louisville and George.
The Racers came out of the gate shooting. They hit back-to-back threes to open the game. Less than five minutes in, the Colonels were down nine, 12-3.
Eastern trailed the entire first half, but never by more than nine with the help of five steals and hitting five threes.
At the intermission, Murray led 31-27. Papa Oppong was the only Colonel having success on the offensive end. He hit four of five shots, including two threes for 11 points.
Only trailing a few, Eastern was able to take the lead less than a minute into the second half. A layup by Dayvon Ellis gave the Colonels a 32-31 lead.
The score was back and forth throughout the first 12 minutes, with Eastern up by five with 14 minutes to go.
At the 10:18 mark, Oppong scored on a layup, giving Eastern a 45-42 lead.
Over the next nine minutes, the Colonels missed seven straight shots. By the time Oppong hit a free throw with 1:24 remaining in the game, Murray was up 52-46.
"I didn't use my bench the right way tonight," head coach Jeff Neubauer said. "In the last 10 minutes, we weren't as fresh as we've been in our first six games, and that did affect us down the stretch, along with Murray's very, very good defense."
The Colonels couldn't make up the difference in time and lost 58-50 to the Racers.
"I am very pleased with our defense tonight. To hold Murray to 58 points is a good step for our program," Neubauer said. "Murray did show tonight that they are the best defensive team in the league."
Eastern's bench, which had been averaging more than 20 points a game, could only muster 18 Thursday night. The Colonels were also beat up on the boards: Murray out-rebounded them 40-25.
Eastern shot 0-11 from beyond the arc in the second half.
The Racers defense targeted Mike Rose all night, holding him to just six shots, only scoring two points.
"The fact that Mike Rose only got six shots off doesn't bother me, because Murray was guarding him very well," Neubauer said.
This was Rose's worst offensive performance since the last game of his freshman year.
Oppong finished with a team-high 19 points and five rebounds.
"Papa did do very well offensively, and that's what we're hoping for from him. He is a very good shooter, which he showed tonight," Neubauer said. "I'm glad that he did step up. We just need a few other guys to do the same thing."
Coach Neubauer said that playing Murray so close gives the team a good idea of where they stand going into conference play and that the team will learn from what happened.
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