YPSILANTI, Mich.  – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team tipped off the 2019-20 campaign with a decisive 93-51 win over Siena Heights University Friday, Nov. 8, inside the Convocation Center.

With the victory in the first leg of the EMU's annual Education Day doubleheader, the Green and White improve to 8-1 in home openers under head coach Rob Murphy. The Eagles (1-0) had a half-dozen players reach double-figures in points in their season opener, which also occurred last season in a 90-72 triumph against the Saints (1-2), Dec. 22, 2018.

Redshirt senior Boubacar Toure (Dakar, Senegal-Phase One Academy (Grand Canyon)) logged his ninth-career double-double with the Green and White as he notched 13 points and a team-best 10 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Redshirt junior Ty Groce (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Lincoln) led EMU with 15 points while adding four boards and a pair of helpers, as fellow redshirt junior Chris Barnes (Compton, Calif.-Compton (Tulsa)) finished with eight points and a team-high six assists off the bench in his EMU debut.

Junior newcomers Yeikson Montero (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic-Redemption Christian Academy (Penascola State)) and Noah Morgan (Mount Vernon, N.Y.-Mount Vernon (Northwest Florida State)) each tallied 11 points, with the latter contributing five assists. Freshman Chris James (Long Beach, Calif.-St. John Bosco) added 13 points off the bench, going 4-of-5 from downtown along with four boards and a pair of steals, while junior Jalen King (Pasco, Wash.-Kings Academy) notched 10 bench points, four boards, a team-leading three blocks, and two swipes. 

EMU finished 57.1 percent (32-of-56) from the floor and made half of its 18 three-point attempts, while holding Siena Heights to a 33.9 percent (19-of-56) efficiency. The Eagles overmatched the Saints in steals (11-1), assists (20-9), points in the paint (44-14), points off turnovers (27-9), fast-break points (18-2), and blocks (6-3). The hosts also went 20-of-24 from the charity stripe, as SHU converted on just 4-of-15 free throw attempts.

The Eagles traded baskets with the Saints through the opening couple of minutes, but the Green and White grabbed the lead for good with 11 unanswered points to make it a 15-6 contest heading into the first media stoppage. EMU continued to pull away from SHU, as back-to-back corner threes from freshman Shamar Dillard (South Bend, Ind.-Riley (SPIRE Institute)) and James gave the hosts a commanding 25-9 lead with 11:59 left in the first half. In all, the Eagles erased an early two-point deficit with a 21-3 run lasting nearly seven minutes, and held a 49-26 advantage at the intermission.

After Siena Heights cut EMU's lead to 18 in the second period, the Eagles erupted for a 20-3 run spanning more than seven minutes to jump ahead, 67-37, with 9:31 left in the contest. With the result well in hand, EMU posted a 9-0 run in the waning moments to earn a convincing 42-point win and rise to 5-0 all-time against the Saints.

Eastern will remain at home to take on a pair of NAIA opponents, as it welcomes Goshen College to the Convocation Center Tuesday, Nov. 12 before facing Michigan-Dearborn Thursday, Nov. 14. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m.

Dartmouth 68, Buffalo 63
Boxscore
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team trailed throughout on Friday night as the Bulls fell in their 2019-20 season opener to Dartmouth, 68-63.  The loss snapped a 26-game home winning streak, which was currently the second longest in the nation.

The Bulls struggled offensively as UB shot just 35.6% for the game, including 28.6% in the first half. Of the eight players who saw the floor for Buffalo, four were playing in their first ever regular season game for the Blue and White.

It was over three minutes before either team found the scoring column and that's when Dartmouth scored the first five points.  A three from sophomore Ronaldo Segu ended the drought for the Bulls at the 15:36 mark, but the Big Green would go on to take an early 14-5 lead.

Dartmouth extended its advantage to 28-14 with 5:25 remaining before the Bulls went on 10-1 run to pull within five at 29-24 with 2:17 left.   UB found itself trailing 33-26 at the break.

Dartmouth opened the second half on a 7-2 run and ended up extending its lead all the way to 17 at 47-30 with 12:47 left when the Bulls tried to make a late run.

Senior Davonta Jordan scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the final 12:19 of the game, beginning with a three-pointer to start the UB run. In all, Jordan scored 10 straight points for the Bulls as Buffalo went on a 12-0 run to pull within 47-42 with 10:22 left.

Another triple from Jordan pulled Buffalo all the way within one, its closest deficit since the start of the game as UB trailed just 56-55 with 6:03 left.  However, Dartmouth answered with four straight to go back ahead by five.

The Bulls cut it to one again as junior Jayvon Graves hit a three pointer with 1:39 left to pull UB within 61-60, but Dartmouth scored seven straight points before a late three pointer from Antwain Johnson ended the game in favor of the Big Green, 68-63.

Jordan finished the night with 17 points, six rebounds, and four steals as he was one of four players in double figures.  Graves finished the night with 15 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Josh Mballa finished just shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.  Johnson added 10 points as well.

Sophomore Jeenathan Williams finished with six points, while Ronaldo Segu had five points, three assists and a steal.

Redshirt freshman LaQuill Hardnett made his first appearance after missing the exhibition and finished with a pair of rebounds and two assists.

The Bulls will return to action on Monday night when they host Nazareth College at 7pm at Alumni Arena.

West Virginia 94, Akron 84
Boxcore
Morgantown, W.Va. – The Akron men's basketball team had four players score in double-digits as the Zips fell 94-84 on the road to Big 12 conference member West Virginia at the WVU Coliseum in front of 12,513 fans on Friday evening.
 
Senior Xeyrius Williams (Springfield, Ohio) led all scorers with a game-high 20 points, while senior Channel Banks (Las Vegas, Nev.) and junior Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) recorded 16 points each. Senior Tyler Cheese (Albany, Ga.) rounded out the double-digit scoring with 15 points while junior Camron Reece (Oakland, Calif.) collected a team-best 10 rebounds to go along with eight points.
 
West Virginia (1-0) led by as many as 17 points, but that didn't stop the Zips from battling back and making it a two-possession game with 45-seconds left to play thanks to three consecutive free throws from Williams. On the ensuing possession, Akron forced a turnover as Williams swiped an errant WVU pass in the paint, but a blocked shot by WVU's Logan Routt at the other end of the floor forced the Zips to send the Mountaineers to the free throw line. WVU buried four-straight free throws to keep the game out of reach for Akron.
 
Akron (1-1) started the game with back-to-back triples from Cheese and another from Banks for an 11-5 advantage by the first media break. WVU surged with a pair of 3-pointers and an old-fashioned 3-point play to gain control of the scoreboard and help fuel an 18-8 run before the second media break in action, 23-19.
 
The home team extended the lead to nine-points, 28-19, but timely shooting by Williams and Banks kept the game close midway through the first half, 28-24. Over the next four minutes, the two teams traded buckets until an 11-1 run by West Virginia separated the teams by 14 points, 41-27. At halftime, WVU led 47-33.
 
In the second half, Akron immediately cut the deficit to as low as six points, 56-50, but the Mountaineers continued to use mini scoring spurts to get back to a double-digit lead. Akron made one final push in the final three minutes of the game.
 
WVU also had four players in double figures as Derek Culver and Jermaine Haley notched 16 points apiece. Emmitt Matthews, Jr. and Miles McBride followed with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Akron returns to James A. Rhodes Arena for a three-game homestand, starting on Friday, Nov. 15 against North Carolina Central. The homestand continues against South Carolina Upstate (Mon., Nov. 18) and Youngstown State (Thur., Nov. 21). All games are part of the Global Sports Shootout and scheduled for 7 p.m. tip-off times.

No. 22 LSU 88, Bowling Green 79
Boxscore
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe for a majority of the night with 22-ranked Louisiana State University on Friday (Nov. 8) night, but the Tigers held on for an 88-79 victory. The non-conference contest was played at LSU's Maravich Center. The Falcons are now 1-1 on the young season.
 
The difference in the ballgame was a 19-0 run for LSU late in the first half. Prior to the Tigers' 19-0 run, Bowling Green had taken a 20-15 lead with 12:21 left in the first half. After the big run for the Tigers, the Falcons went on to out-score LSU by a 59-54 margin over the final 23:53 of the game.
 
The Falcons were held to 32.0 percent (24-of-75) shooting in the contest. However, Bowling Green shot 40.0 percent from deep, making 14-of-35 attempts. BGSU went a strong 17-of-21 (81.0 percent) from the free throw line.
 
LSU, after making seven triples in the first half, was held to a 0-for-3 mark in the second half. The Tigers shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field as a team. Another key factor in the contest was free throw shooting, as LSU attempted 13 more foul shots and made 10 more free throws than the Falcons. LSU went 27-of-34 (79.4 percent) from the line.
 
BGSU had more steals than LSU (11-3), and had 12 assists compared to nine turnovers. The Tigers had 11 assists and 16 turnovers. The Falcons had 15 offensive boards and 41 total for the game. LSU registered nine offensive boards and 46 total rebounds.